Memento of the Past
by Alvarin
Summary: It's been 50 years since the Oblivion crisis. Cyrodiil is on the brink of civil war. The heroes of the past are long gone, who will rise to return the peace to Tamriel?  Now you can follow the fates of the successors of the well known characters.
1. Legacy of the Champion

**Chapter 1 Legacy of the Champion**

"Coming through!" Finn quickly moved out of the way to let the waitress pass.

The Flowing Bowl was crammed with drunk sailors . He felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Hauls-Ropes-Faster and Thurindil is at it again!" Said Algernon with a big, malicious grin over his face.

"Again? Seriously, when are those two sea dogs gonna cut it of? They're not exactly young lads anymore."

"Oh come on! It's hilarious!" Algernon climbed up on a table and called for everybody's attention. "Guys. Guys. Hey listen up you rotten scum!" Everybody glared at Algernon. "Hauls-Ropes-Faster and Thurindil is fighting outside!" A boisterous laugh spread across the inn.

"You might think that that old Argonian should have succeeded to bash some sense in to that nutjob by now!" bawled an old Nord sailor.

"Ha! That drunkard wouldn't be able to crack a Bosmers scull even if his fists were made with iron," said Anguilon. The Nord looked vexed.

"Let me squeeze that scull of yours and see if it holds. But since your a Bosmer, it probably won't be any brain in it!" The loud laugh that followed was cut short by Anguilons fist. The huge Nord went down on the floor like a sack of potatoes.

"Nice hit grandpa!" cried Algernon in excitement. He had always been fond of fighting, especially when he himself or his family was involved. Finn, who was a bit more wary than Algernon, had noticed the sailors were staring intensely at each other and that there was a tense feeling in the air.

He tapped on Algernons shoulder. "I think we should leave now."

"What are you talking about?" Then he laughed, "Looked to deep in the cup, eh?"

Before Finn had time to answer a pitcher flew over his head and crashed into the wall, splattering wine at everybody. Before he knew it all hell broke loose. Cups and chairs flew across the room, sailors threw themselves over each other, pounding one another as hard as they could. Algernon and his grandfather needed no persuasion to join them. Finn, on the other hand, swiftly made his way to the door. Before closing the door behind him he caught a glimpse of Anguilon clinging to the back of Krognak gro-Brok. The little Bosmer were actually handling the giant old Orc pretty well.

He took a deep breath of the fresh, salty sea breeze and looked out over the harbor. If it hadn't been for the Argonian and Bosmer fighting out on the pier, it would have been an amazing sight. The moonlight seeped through the dark clouds and spread a soft light over the Abecean sea. He felt a presence behind him and turned around believing it was Algernon. He was met by a unfamiliar person wearing a black robe and hood. Finn couldn't see his face in the dark.

"Excuse me, but you don't happen to know were Windstone manor is?" he said with a smooth voice. The man was holding the reins of a beautiful chestnut horse.

"Yes, it's inside the city walls, close to the church. You can't miss it, it's _really _worn down."

"But I was informed of the caretakers death only a few days ago, he can't have been dead more than two weeks. I think his name was Newheim"

"You mean Newheim _the Drinker_?" Finn snickered. "He wasn't caretaker of anything, other than his own jag."

"My father left him a considerable sum of money to take care of the manor." _His father?_ Finn thought. He was starting to feel sorry for the man, who had obviously been fooled. "Newheim were drowning in debt. Every single coin he had he spent on booze or lost on bets. That old fart didn't even intend to look after that house." The man fiddled anxiously with the reins. Finn smiled in an attempt to calm him. "I'll show you the place, all right? If it's to bad you can always hire John the Builder and his men."

The man nodded. "Thank you. I assure you it is indeed very much appreciated." Finn smirked.

"There is no need for such fancy words."

"I'm just grateful," he said calmly while patting his horse. "Nika?" he said and turned around. Another man cloaked in black robes appeared from the shadows behind The Flowing Bowl.

"Yes?" He too had a very smooth voice, but he sounded older than the first man.

"Take Castanea to the stable." After retrieving a torch from the saddlebag he gave Nika the reins. Finn was starting to understand that this man was by no means ordinary. They both watched Nika until he rounded the corner of the wall and disappeared out of sight.

"Shall we go?" the man asked and lit the torch simply by touching it. Apparently he was a mage.

"Yeah, just follow me through the gate. I'll get you there in no time," said Finn and started walking towards the big gate. Anvil was just a small town but it was surrounded by towering walls on all sides, just like all the other big towns in Cyrodiil. Lately the gates into the city had been reinforced and were always guarded by at least two men. Finn had no idea why they were taking such measures, but it worried both him and the other citizens of Anvil. A guard, who recognized Finn, opened a small door in the gate.

"You should probably send some guards to The Flowing Bowl." The guard mumbled something that sounded like a curse when he closed the door behind them.

They walked through the town in silence. Finn was starting to feel uneasy, partially because the outlooks on the walls seemed so interested in something outside the city, but mostly because the man hadn't told Finn his name, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't even cash a glimpse of the mans face, it was constantly covered in shadow, probably as a result of some kind of spell.

Windstone manor had been bought years ago, after the Oblivion crisis, by Selestin Windstone, the Champion of Cyrodiil. The Champion had courageously slayed hoards of undead dwelling inside the manor and rid it of its curse. When Finn was a little child his mother read him countless tales of the Champions great deeds. The man walking behind him might actually be the grandchild of that man. Finns couldn't help but smile when he realized the fact that this man would owe him a favor later.

"This is it," Finn said and pointed at the old, rugged house. Some of the windows were broken and tiles from the roof were spread out in the garden, which were overgrown with weed. The man sighed.

"Is there anything left inside?" he asked.

"I don't know. I have never been inside. Kids play there a lot though, so if there was anything valuable inside, it's long gone."

"That's to bad," the man said. He walked in through the door and looked around. "I'm going to take a look around, just in case."

"Want some help?" Finn should have kept his mouth closed, but he really wanted to see if there was anything exiting inside the manor.

"Don't you ave anything better to do?"

"Uh.." Finn didn't really know what to answer. Of course the man didn't want Finn to hang around and bother him, possibly stealing priceless artifacts. "Sorry I.."

"I didn't mean to insult you. What I meant was; I don't want you to waste your time looking through some old shack, if you don't want to."

"As I said, I'm a docker and it's midnight, so I'm not exactly busy," said Finn and smiled.

"Well then, could you possibly help me find the door to the cellar?"

"Sure!" Finn went inside and looked around. The man lit up the old lanterns spread across the house with a small movement of his hand, then he threw the torch into the fireplace. There were loads of rubbish on the floor. If it was a trapdoor they were looking for, they were screwed. Finn started searching the foyer and sitting area but couldn't find any hatch. He used both his feet and hands to scoop things out of the way, so that he could see the floor, but found nothing. Suddenly he heard a loud crack. It sounded like old wood being splintered. He hurried in to the dining room were the man stood, in front of a broken wooden door.

"Stand behind me," he said. Finn did as he was told. The man then threw some kind of spell at the door. The last piece of the door shattered with another loud crack.

Finn was astonishment. "That's impressive," he said.

The man stepped through the doorway and went down the stairs.

"You don't happen to carry another torch?" As soon as he had finished the sentence the old torches that were fastened on the walls in the basement lit up. Finn followed him in silence. The first room that they entered was empty, except for some craters and barrels stacked up in a corner. They went down another stair and entered another room. He was dumbfounded of what he saw. The hole basement was packed full with sets of expensive armor and weapons, probably heavily enchanted.

"Sir, do you need some help?" A figure suddenly appeared from a dark corner.

"Holy shit! Don't scare me like that!" Finn stared at Nika, and Nika stared back.

"Get the carriages. I'm want to take this back to Skingrad." Nika bowed towards the man and disappeared back into the shadows without a single noise.

"Is he always like that?"

The man chuckled. "Don't let him startle you. He has been rigorously trained in the arts of stealth, and is probably the best marksman in Cyrodiil, but unless you attack me, he is meek as a lamb."

"Yeah, sure," said Finn in disbelief. "But if I attacked you now he wouldn't see it." Finn really regretted saying that. He didn't want to be blown into pieces like that door. Luckily the man just laughed.

"He, nor I, think you are strong enough to do any real harm." Finn smiled nervously.

"You're probably right about that." Suddenly Finn felt insulted. The tough work at the dock had actually made him pretty strong. If the man didn't use any spells, Finn would surely win, or at least cause some injuries. "Well.. As long as you don't use any spells," he added.

"Want to try?" Finn looked surprised. "I won't use any spells. Try to hit me. But if you don't succeed you have to carry all this stuff up the stairs." Finn looked around. It would take days for him to carry it up alone, but, feeling pretty confident he asked:

"What do I get if I win?"

"Anything you want," the man answered immediately.

Finn looked around again. His eyes were caught by a familiar piece of armor, visible through a crack in a cupboard.

"Is that the Dragon Armor?" He couldn't take his eyes of it.

The man opened the cupboard and lifted out a dusty, but still beautiful, helmet. "Indeed it is."

"Then that's what I want if I defeat you." He wondered if he might have asked for to much. But the man had said "anything", so he had himself to blame.

"Sure. Now come on, big guy. Show me what you got," he said and laughed. Finn hesitated at first, but then he clenched his fists.

"I don't have all day," the man said with another laugh. Finn took a swing at his head but missed. He had ducked in the last moment and grabbed Finns arm. With a strength that was surprising for such a slender figure he pulled Finns arms forward. Finn lost his balance and was immediately pulled down on the floor. Before he could get up again the man sat down on Finns back, grabbed his head and turned it until Finn couldn't possibly move without risking to break his own neck.

"I give up! Let go of my head!" The man let go but stayed put on Finns back.

"That was easier than I thought," he said and chuckled.

"How the hell did you do that?"

"Nika taught me some tricks, looks like they work." _Tricks, my ass! _Finn thought. That was more than just a few _tricks_. His speed and strength wasn't human. He had to be a Kahjiit. But since the Champion was a Breton it didn't make sense. On the other hand crossbreeds was nothing new.

"Want to get up?" the man asked. He sounded very amused.

"Yes, please." The man got of Finns back so that he could get up.

Finn looked around on all the stuff. "Do you really want me to carry _all _this inside?"

"Did you really intend to make me give up the Dragon Armor?" He had a point. A promise is a promise.

"Can I start tomorrow?" he said with a glimpse of hope in his eyes.

"Unfortunately I can't stay that long. You'll have to do it tonight."

"I can't possibly carry all this outside by myself in one night." Finn pointed at a pile of heavy armor that looked like it had been fitted for a giant. "I'll have to drag that up piece by piece."

"I never said that you had to do it alone," he said and laughed. Suddenly they heard a monstrous roar from the top of the room above.

"Here they come. The guys that are going to help you out." Finn saw not one, but ten ogres walking down the stair. He had never seen an ogre I real life, but he had heard that the could rip a man apart with their bare hands.

"Are you insane? There going to kill us," he whispered. The man just chuckled.

"They wouldn't hurt a fly," he said. Without saying anything he waved to the ogres and pointed at the stuff on the floor. They immediately picked up the things that he pointed on and carried them up the stairs. Finn stayed well out of reach for their huge arms.

"You see? With a bit of training the make fine servants. They're smarter and stronger than dogs, and they also have a stronger team spirit, so if you manage to become their leader they'll gladly jump of a cliff if you order them to."

"So you like _ogres _more than dogs?" Finn said cynically.

"No, actually I prefer horses," the man answered, totally oblivious to the sarcasm. The basement was almost empty now, except for a handful of swords and bows still hanging on the walls.

"That was quick. I didn't get to carry a single arrow outside."

"No need," the man said. "I didn't really intend to force you to do anything." Now Finn felt guilty. If he had won, he most definitely would have taken the Dragon Armor, without any sign of remorse. _But_,he felt that he had to add, _I didn't stand a chance in the first place._

"Take this." The man threw a ring to him.

"What is it?" Finn asked. The ring was made in silver and had small engravings on one side. They looked like the symbols he had seen in a book that described Oblivion. When he looked closer he could see that there was some kind of stone intermixed with the metal.

"Keep it. I think it may come in handy for you."

"Ah.." Finn answered, fascinated by the ring. When he looked up the basement was completely empty. _I didn't get to thank him, _he thought. When he stepped outside the manor there were no sign of neither the man or the ogres.

"By the gods. Did you see that?" A beggar looked at him with an utterly confused expression. "I think I saw ogres, carrying the imperial dragon armor."

"You shouldn't drink skooma. It's bad for your head." Finn said and started to walk towards his house. In his right hand he clutched the ring tightly. It was the only thing he had that proved that he hadn't been dreaming. Suddenly he was struck by a thought. _How the hell did they get the ogres inside the city_? When he went to check on the guards that watched the front gate he discovered that they were soundly asleep on the ground. _Oh.._


	2. Brought Together by Death

**Chapter 2 Brought Together by Death**

There was a heavy thump when the arrowhead dug itself into the battered practice dummy. Another zinging arrow soon followed the first one. Thanatos smiled when the arrow hit the head of the dummy.

"You're getting better."

Kai stared at Thanatos with a insulted look in his eyes. "Of course I am! You've been training me so hard my fingers are bleeding."

Thanatos smelled the air. "No, they aren't," he said with a confused look.

Kai looked down on his hands. "Okay, they aren't.. But they still hurt," he said and looked miserable.

"Oh, buhu," mumbled Thanatos with an amused smile.

"You don't have to be so spiteful."

"I'm not spiteful, I'm just.." Thanatos got up from his chair and walked over to Kai. ".. teasing you." He gently took Kai's hands and looked at them. They looked very tanned compared to Thanatos. "Oh, dear."

"What?" Kai looked flustered.

"I forgot to respond to Vicente's letter."_ Vicente again? _Kai thought. Thanatos didn't notice the irritated expression on Kai's face.

"So my hands are fine?" he asked. Thanatos, suddenly aware that he was still holding Kai's hands, let go and returned to his chair.

"You're fine. Keep practicing." He bent down to his bag and took out some rolled up parchment and a quill.

"Seriously, you don't have to answer to every line that he writes," Kai said with a annoyed tone in his voice.

Thanatos looked up with a raised eyebrow. "The last thing he sent me was a 4 feet long

- I'm not joking - roll of parchment, in which he required a detailed elaboration of our rules regarding advancement within the black hand."

"Oh," said Kai, he had almost forgotten what kind of responsibility Thanatos had. "Then you should get on with it."

"Back at you." Thanatos started scribbling. He didn't need any ink since the quill he used was enchanted. A birthday gift from Vicente, apparently.

Kai sighed and went to pick up his arrows. Thanatos and Vicente's relationship had always bewildered him. He had asked Thanatos about it several times, but he newer got a clear answer. Vicente Valtieri was a vampire, so was Thanatos. Thanatos was the listener of the Dark Brotherhood, Vicente was a speaker. That was all he knew.

"You missed. Try to aim at the torso instead, it's easier." Thanatos amber-colored eyes followed him closely, despite the fact that he was still writing.

"Yes, I know that, thank you." Kai hated when he wasn't able to master weapons immediately, and he had a real problem with bows. He took another arrow out of his quiver and aimed for the head of the dummy. Unfortunately, it was another miss.

"You missed aga.." Kai cut him of before he had time to finish his sentence.

"Yeah, that happens sometimes!" When he realized he had been shouting he lowered his voice. "I'm only human, you know." Kai smiled, but Thanatos didn't. Instead he looked insulted.

"I can hear your heart beating, louder than the roar of a dragon. When you breath it sounds like you have a hurricane inside of you." Kai didn't know how to react. He hadn't expected Thanatos to get mad. "And, as if that isn't enough, your scent, or should I say the scent of your blood, makes my throat burn like it's on fire.." He had actually gotten so mad that Kai could see his fangs when he spoke. "So, yes! I know that you're _human_, trust me." He got up from the chair and squeezed the parchment and quill down into the bag.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that." Thanatos was on his way out from the bloodworks. Kai hurried after him and grabbed his arm. "Don't go. I barely get to see you these days."

Thanatos looked hurt. "You're the one who is always busy. And besides, why are you always so irritable when you're with me?" When he was angry his eyes looked as if they were burning.

"No, you're the one who's always in Bravil or out on some killing spree with Valtieri!" Kai took a deep breath to calm down. "Sorry.. Guess I am kind of irritable when you're around."

"_Kind of?_ You're worse than a imp!" Kai was just about to protest when Thanatos gave him a stern look. "And you know that I did not choose the dark brotherhood.."

Kai sighed, he had heard this a million times and it didn't make any sense. "You just ended up there. They have always taken care of you, and you don't want to be ungrateful. You feel like you owe them every second of your life and if Vicente asked you, you would probably lick his feet." Thanatos opened his mouth to object but Kai cut him of. "Oh, and then you usually say something like: _you could never understand the bond he and I share_."

"Well.. You can't." Thanatos looked hurt. "He made me what I am, and he saved my life. I don't understand how you can hate him so much when you haven't even met him."

Kai stood in silence for quite a while before answering. He tried to catch Thanatos eyes, who stared intensively into a stone wall. "Tell me," Kai said.

"About what?" One of the stone blocks seemed to be incredibly interesting.

"Your past."

"I don't remember it," mumbled Thanatos.

Kai felt confused. "What do you mean?" Sure, Thanatos was nearly 70 years old but he never forgot anything. _And besides, he hasn't aged since since he was twenty._

"I don't remember."

Now Kai got even more confused. "What? Why?" he demanded.

Thanatos suddenly looked irritated. "How should I know?" Then he calmed down and said: "It's none of your business anyway." His voice sounded chilly.

Kai felt hurt. How could it not be his business? He had known Thanatos for years.

Thanatos looked at him and Kai and could probably see that he had gotten hurt, because he said: "Sorry, but it's my past. Why would you want to know such things?"

"Because you're my friend, and you know everything about me, and despite that, I know hardly anything about you."

Thanatos looked like he was trying to decide on whether he should tell Kai or not. When he finally started talking Kai was practically jumping up and down in excitement.

"When you put it like that.. But I don't remember anything from when I was human." Kai looked at Thanatos with a quizzical face.

"Nothing at all?"

Thanatos shook his head. "The first thing I remember is waking up and seeing Vicente's worried eyes." Kai frowned. Vicente again. "He found me laying in the middle of the Blue Road."

"Bet he tried to suck you dry," muttered Kai. Thanatos gave him a grim look.

"He thought I was dead, my head was crushed. But then.. he heard my heartbeat."

"And then he sucked you dry?"

"Stop it! He saved me."

"How? Nobody can heal a wound like that."

Thanatos sighed. "Why are you always so oblivious to the obvious? I thought you figured this out years ago."

"Figured out what?" he asked but then he remembered what Thanatos had said earlier. _He made me what I am_. He had used the word _what_, not who. Kai felt stupid, and he hated it. It was, as Thanatos had said, obvious. "I get it. He turned you into a vampire to save your life."

"Yes. Then he brought me to the sanctuary in Cheydinhal, and took care of me after I woke up."

"But he turned you into a _vampire_. You said it yourself that you hate having to hurt innocents. Wouldn't you be better of dead?" Kai regretted it the moment it came out of his mouth. Surprisingly Thanatos didn't seem to get angry. But there was something in his eyes that seemed to change.

"I probably would," he said and started walking up the stairs, towards the door. He opened the door but stopped in the doorway. "You should retire. In a few weeks all hell will break loose here."

Kai was taken by surprise by the sudden change of subject. "What do you mean?"

"I can't tell you. Just do as I say."

Kai frowned. "You're telling me to quit as the grand champion and leave my home, but you can't tell me why? Are you mad? Do you think I'm gonna move somewhere else and start working for the fighters guild or something? What's go.." Thanatos had rushed forward and put his hand over Kai's mouth.

"Don't shout like that, people can hear you."

Kai took a hold of Thanatos arm and jerked it away from his mouth. "Then tell me what's going to happen."

Thanatos sighed. "I can't! You'd run of and tell someone."

Kai tried to look hurt, but he just looked like a whiny kid. "You know I wouldn't do that." He sighed. "I not going to just drop everything because you said so."

"But.."

"No! Not until you tell me what's going to happen."

Thanatos looked desperate. "You have to leave! I can't protect you if you stay."

A sudden chill went down Kai's spine. "Have you been ordered to kill me?" Thanatos stared at him without saying a word. Kai gasped, like he couldn't get enough air. "Oh my god! NO! Who the hell wou.." Thanatos put his hand over Kai's mouth again.

"I told you not to shout!" Kai looked at Thanatos with eyes dilated with fear. "I haven't been ordered to kill you, so relax."

"Ou han't?" Thanatos took his hand away.

"No, I haven't." Kai sighed with relief. "But that doesn't mean that you don't have to leave," Thanatos added.

Kai looked even more confused. "Then why? I promise that I'll leave if you give me a proper reason."

Thanatos finally gave in. "I can't say anything here." Thanatos took Kai's hand and walked out of the bloodworks. It was still dark outside, but some of the citizens were already up and about. "Follow me." Thanatos said and let go of Kai.

As they walked Kai tried to catch a glimpse of Thanatos face, but he walked far in front of him. When the first lights of dawn came, Thanatos pulled his hood down over his eyes and turned into a dark alley. Kai looked around. They were in the market district.

"Hurry up!" He heard a sound that strongly resembled the noise that his sword made when he sharpened it with a grindstone. When he looked towards the place were he had heard Thanatos voice, he saw nothing. Suddenly a head popped out from the ground.

"Are you coming anytime soon?"

"The _sewers_?" Kai looked disgusted. "You've got to be kidding me!"

"What? Is the grand champion afraid to get a little dirt on his boots?" Thanatos frowned, obviously annoyed.

Kai sighed and followed Thanatos down into the hole. They left the entrance open.

It was surprisingly dark, and after walking only a few feet into the dark tunnel Kai could no longer see where he was going. He felt something brush against his arm and twitched.

"It's just me," said Thanatos with a low voice.

"Can we light a torch or something?" No answer. "Thanatos?" The sewage tunnel was completely silent, except for the soft sound of dripping water. If he hadn't been standing on the ground he probably wouldn't have known which side was up in the compact dark.

"Thanatos, this isn't funny. Where are you?" He felt a light touch on his left temple and suddenly the tunnel was lit up, but without any light source. Kai looked at Thanatos, who were standing at his side.

"What did you do?"

"It's just a simple spell. It allows you to see in the dark."

"Oh, okay." Kai looked around. Somehow everything seemed clearer than it normally would. "Are you going to tell me now?" Kai asked with a hopeful smile. He was quite curious now.

"Not yet, we have to go further down first." Thanatos said and started walking. Kai looked down into the stinking water. He could see his own reflection. If it hadn't been for his raiment of valor, people would have mistaken him for a simple farm boy. Ordinary brown hair and eyes. _I'm nothing special, I just happen to be extremely lucky._

"It's not like anybody is listening. Oh well, possibly a rat or a mud crab, but I seriously doubt they're going to tell anyone."

"Just a little further," he pressed.

"You not gonna be happy until I've ruined my new shirt,will you?" Kai said and laughed. His laughter echoed against the walls.

"Take it of if you don't want it to get dirty."

"Yeah, you'd like that, wouldn't you?" Thanatos was quite prudish, and Kai loved teasing him for it. Thanatos stopped in his tracks.

"No.. I mean.." He turned around and looked at Kai with a flustered face. "What?"

Kai grinned. "Calm down, I was just kidding."

"Don't do that." Thanatos tried to look irritated, but the relieve in his face was obvious. He started walking again and Kai followed him. He couldn't help but to think of Thanatos reaction. Kai had admitted to himself a long time ago that he loved Thanatos, although he never had the courage to say it out loud. The fact that Thanatos seemed so utterly appalled, only by hearing him mentioning it, didn't really strengthen Kai's confidence. Unlike Kai, Thanatos was perfect. His skin strongly resembled marble, pure white and flawless. Thanatos impeccable face was contrasted by his messy, black hair. _Beautiful like a painting, and nothing like myself._ While Kai was pondering over this they declined a considerable distance. They were now well below the sewage system, inside what looked like an old fortress or Aylied ruin.

"Where exactly are you taking me?" Kai asked and looked around. He was completely disorientated and there was now way that he could make it back on his own.

"You'll see. It's a place where we can talk without getting disrupted."

Kai shrugged. "Well, it isn't smelly so I guess I should be happy."

Thanatos looked back at him with with a raised eyebrow. "How do you think it smells with this nose?" he said and wiggled his nose somewhat like a rabbit.

Kai laughed. The tension in his shoulders was slowly disappearing. "Sorry, I can't imagine how it feels for you."

"Back at you," Thanatos said with a sad smile. Kai were just about to answer when they walked into a huge room with lines of pillars. The roof was covered in darkness, which was odd since he saw everything else in the room.

"It's to high up," mumbled Thanatos, who had followed Kai's gaze. "The spell won't reach that far."

"I have never heard about this."

"Of course you haven't, it's right below the Imperial Palace. No one knows about this because it's been the secret entrance to the Palace Basement ever since it was built. Only a handful of thieves know about it.. And sometimes.."

"..Assassins use it," Kai continued. "Who are you supposed to kill? I know it's a big shot, otherwise they would have sent somebody else. " Thanatos nodded.

"It seems that someone in the council wants to crowned as emperor, but the chancellor won't allow it."

"You're supposed to kill the High Chancellor? You can't do that! It'll start a war!"

Thanatos looked down into the floor. "It's bound to happen sooner or later anyway. Anvil and Kvatch is already gathering an army and they have joined ranks with Valenwood. Skingrad still hasn't chosen a side. Bruma has allied itself with Skyrim. The countess of Cheydinhal has fled to Morrowind, so I suppose that Cheydinhal will participate on Morrowinds side, although they might try to help the new emperor. Bravil doesn't have any army to speak of and Leyawiin is going to fight for the emperor.." Thanatos stopped to take a breath, he was speaking quickly. "But since the count only cares about wealth and power, he'll probably just invade Bravil and then switch side to Valenwood." Kai didn't know what to respond. Sure, he had witnessed all the signs of an upcoming civil war, but he didn't know that it was so close.

"What about the other provinces?"

"I think they're going to stay out of it." Thanatos looked very grave. "This is why you have to leave Cyrodiil."

"But.. I can't run from this. I'll probably be recruited into the Imperial Legion."

"No! That's the reason that I want you to leave. Go to Summerset Isle or High Rock, you will be safe there." Thanatos was starting to sound desperate. "I don't want anything to happen to you."

"Then don't kill the High Chancellor!" Thanatos looked up at Kai with amber-colored eyes that seemed to glow with anger.

"You promised me that you were going to leave!"

"I can't forsake my country! This is my home and I'm not going to leave it, not even if I have to die for it!"

The glow in Thanatos eyes faded and was replaced by something else. "Then I'll die with you." Kai was about to protest but was silenced. "You said I would be better of dead anyway, didn't you?"

"No, you can't do that.. Don't use my own words against me when you know I didn't mean it like that."

A mirthless smile was formed on his lips. "I'm going to kill the High Chancellor, start a civil war, and then I'm going to die protecting the grand champion of the arena. Sounds like quite a way to go, doesn't it?" Another chill ran down Kai's spine. There was something in Thanatos voice that scared him.

"Who says that I have to die if I fight? I'm very capable of protect myself in battle."

"As ignorant as ever, aren't you? You are famous, and because of that you're going to be targeted. If I wanted to make soldiers feel hopeless, I would target their heroes, and you are one of the heroes." Thanatos turned around and started walking back up again. "You might as well dig a hole."


	3. The Divination

**Chapter 3 The Divination**

A couple of big cat eyes looked up on her from the bed.

"Tawny, why are you still awake?" said Althea with a low voice.

"I can't sleep. When will mum come back?"

"I don't know, Tawny. But I'm sure she'll be back soon." Althea tried to sound as assuring as she could.

"What about Mau's mum and dad? Will they come back to?"

"I hope so. Shall we pray together?" She carefully sat down at the edge of Tawny's bed.

"Will they come home then?" _No_, she wanted to say but she know that she couldn't. She simply didn't have the hart to take away the little girls hope.

"If the gods hear you I'm sure that they will do everything they can to help your parents." Tawny nodded determinedly. "Then I'll pray _really_ much so that they have to listen!"

"That's good." Althea patted the little Kahjiit on the head. They prayed together for all the parents to come home safely, then Althea sat with the little girl until she fell asleep. When she walked out from the dormitory she felt empty. Tawny and Mau came from a nearby village. There were many more just like them. All the men and women who could wield a weapon or cast magic had been recruited into the imperial legion.

"The war hasn't started yet, there is still hope. Maybe nothing will happen. High chancellor Audric won't let anything happen to us." Winifred smiled kindly towards Althea. Her old wrinkly face and white hair looked exactly as it had 16 years ago, when she became abbess of the Priory of the Nine.

"Even Audric's power has it's boundaries. The armies that we're facing are far too great."

"Maybe," she said and nodded. "But as long as we pray, the gods will help us."

Althea was starting to feel frustrated. She knew that there was nothing that the gods could do to help them. "Then why haven't they helped those children? Why are they being punished?"

Winifred seemed surprised at first, but then she put her hand on Althea's shoulder.

"The gods does not always act as we wish, but I do know that they would never let any harm come to those children." The abbess sighed when she saw the confusion in Althea's face. "I'm sure you'll understand in time. After all, you are the one who's supposed to take my place when I'm gone." Althea opened her mouth to protest but the abbess put up her hand to silence her. "Your grandfather would have wanted you to lead this priory."

Althea sighed. "I'm not ready for that kind of responsibility."

"Oh, well, I'm not going to die today! You have time. Time to mature and become wise, just like your grandfather and your mother."

"I guess you are right. But lets pray that there will be a long time until then." Althea smiled. Winifred nodded and went up to her room.

When she was younger she would've believed the abbess words, but things had changed. She no longer wanted to lead the priory, and her faith in the gods were diminishing every day. What god would take both mothers and fathers away from their children? Althea was tired of waiting for a manifestation of the divines. She wanted to help. She wanted to be talk to the leaders of the different sides, try to stop the upcoming war. And if she couldn't prevent the war she wanted to be out on the battle field, healing the wounded and supporting soldiers who had lost hope, no matter what side they fought on. _I can do all that, _she thought,_ all I have to do is step outside_. She smiled when she thought about it. Finally, she would have the chance to actually help someone. Not that she didn't consider herself an asset to the priory, but the number of people she could help there was limited.

Under her bed was a small bag with her belongings. There were only two dresses, one pair of shoes and a ring, all of which she had inherited from her mother. The rest of her clothes belonged to the priory, and she didn't think it was right to take them. Althea took a deep breath. Usually she was never anxious when she did something she knew was right, but this time it was different. She had lived as a nun in the priory since the day she was born, and leaving it felt like leaving a part of herself behind, but at the same time she was finding something new within herself. Nika was the one who had brought that new thing forward. Ever since Althea met him, she had been changing. He was the one who had offered to take her to the frontline. He had joined Valenwoods army together with the nobleman that he served, apparently this nobleman wanted the best healers in Cyrodiil by his side, and Nika had gotten her a place with the rest of the medics that he had gathered. She picked up her bag and forced herself to smile. _Everything is going to be fine_, she thought and walked out of the priory.

Nika was sitting on the lowest branch of a big oak. It was past midnight and pitch black, but thanks to his vampire eyes he had a perfect view of the priory. He was wearing a white shirt, under a dark leather jerkin that matched his trousers. A bow and a quiver were hanging on his back, and in his sword belt he had a longsword and a knife, all in silver. Usually he would've been wearing a robe with hood, to make sure that the sun wouldn't get to him, in case he didn't make it inside before sunrise, but this night he had to wear casual clothes in order not to raise any suspicion.

A flickering light inside the priory attracted his attention. He saw an old lady, who he recognized as the priory's abbess, walk past the window. When the abbess was out of sight the light went out. Althea should have come out by now. It was possible that she had changed her mind, she had been more than a bit doubtful when he suggested that she should leave the priory with him, but Nika thought that he had done a pretty good job convincing her. Finally he could hear the slight creak of an old door that swung open at the back of the priory, a moment later Althea appeared behind the corner. She looked wary, and kept looking back to make sure that no one had discovered her. Althea walked past the oak that Nika sat in, stopped, looked around and made a worried face. She was probably scared that Nika wouldn't show.

A graceful, but not very quiet, jump down from the oak announced where he was. Surprisingly she didn't seem startled.

"Nika?" she said with a smile.

"I'm here." Soundlessly he walked over to Althea and put his hand on her shoulder. He knew she could not see in the dark and therefor he took her hand and led her to the carriage. After helping her inside he climbed up to the coachman's seat and took the reins. Nika made a clicking noise with his tongue that made the horses trot.

Snowdrop and Starflower were two of his favorite horses, and thanks to the extensive training he had given them, they were faster and stronger than most other horses. Before he was stricken with vampirism, he bred horses, but he couldn't continue. For several years he had spent every single hour, every day, trying to control his thirst. He tried to hide from all that breathed, but no matter where he went he could still feel the scent of blood burning down his throat. When he met Selestin, who were an old man by then, Nika was completely desocialized and mad with thirst. Selestin and his son, Avinoam, had chained him to a wall in their basement and slowly, _painfully_, gotten him used to the scent of blood and, with the help of the former count Hassildor, taught him how to drink blood with moderation. The reason that he worked for the Windstone family was mostly because he wanted to "return the favor", but it was also partially because Émile, Avinoam's son, allowed him to take care of his horses. Since he was a little child Émile had always been very fond of horses. Nika remembered once when Cast..

"Uhum! Excuse me?" Nika twitched when he heard Althea's voice.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Did you need anything?"

"No, I just wanted to know where you are taking me."

"Skingrad, as I told you before."

"But _where_ in Skingrad?" She was starting to sound a bit annoyed.

"To the home of the nobleman that I serve." Nika turned his head so that he could see Altheas face. "Do you want me to stop somewhere on the way?"

She smiled. "No, lets just get there as soon as possible."

"Okay.." They came out on the road. There were several turnoffs so he had to turn forward again. ".. but Émile wanted me to take you to a tailor, before we arrive at his home, and buy some new clothes."

"What? I can't afford that, I have no money." Nika suddenly became aware of the heavy coin purse in his pocket. He picked it up and gave it to Althea.

"He was a bit unsure of how much a nice dress costs, but that will probably allow you to buy a few. Won't it?"

Althea stared in disbelief at the coin purse. With shaky hands she opened it and looked inside. "By the gods! He couldn't possibly have meant to give me all this. It's insane!" She quickly closed it again.

Nika snickered. "Well, insane might be a bit of an exaggeration, but.. he does have way to much money, and nowhere to spend it."

"But.. No, this is too much," she said and tried to give the coin purse back to Nika.

"If you want to give it back, give it to Émile, but I'm sure that he would be offended."

Althea looked around in desperation. "But what am I going to do with all this gold?"

"Buy dresses.." said Nika and shrugged. "And a manor. I bet you could even afford one in the Talos Plaza District."

"I could buy the hole district.." she mumbled. Her pale face was starting to worry him.

"There is no need to feel uneasy. This is what you're going to do: you're going to buy all the clothes and jewelries you want, then you hold on to that gold until the war is over. When it's over -if you're still alive- you'll by a house and give the remaining gold to the priory." Nika was speaking clearly, as if she was a child.

"Okay.. That sounds good." She didn't seem very convinced, but at least the color had returned to her face.

"You can see the city now," Nika said and pointed towards Skingrad.

"Do you mean those lights over there?"

"Yes. That is the castle."

"Hm, I thought they were stars. You must have very good eyes."

Nika looked up. "No," he lied. "But the clouds hides all the other stars, so why would only four stars, in a perfect row, be visible?"

"I guess you're right." None of them said another word until they reached the gate. Outside the gate there was an enormous military camp, packed full with men and women.

"Who are this people?" she said with a low voice.

"Volunteers from all over Tamriel."

"Volunteers?" Althea sounded surprised.

"Yes, of course. Unlike the empire we do not force people away from their homes."

"Who are _we_?"

"We who strive to make the dream of Westland come true." Nika could see that Althea didn't understand, so he explained before she had time to ask. "Valenwood, Hammerfell and the counties of Anvil, Kvatch and Skingrad, as well as the counties in Cyrodiil that we succeed to conquer, will be united to create Westland. Westland will be an empire without segregation, a place where every commoner have a say."

A guard approached their carrier.

"What do we want?" he said with an authoritative voice.

"Freedom and prosperity."

"When will we celebrate?"

"The day of the rose." The guard nodded and went to open the gate.

"What was that about?" Althea asked.

"Passwords. They change them every day, so you should make sure to keep track of them."

Althea sighed. "What is the point of that? It's not like two persons can kill every soldier inside the city."

"You only need to kill one person to stop the Westland army." Nika pulled the horses to a stop outside the tailor's shop. Despite the late hour the shopwindows were lit. Nika got down from the coachman's seat and helped Althea get of. Her long, auburn hair looked tangled and her coarse outfit was a bit to big. Nika smiled. The ladies he knew would rather be caught dead than showing themselves in public with that look, but she didn't seem to care one bit. In fact, she was more beautiful than any lady he had ever met, despite her untidy look.

"Is this it?" she said with a doubtful voice and pointed towards a small door.

"I know it doesn't look like much, but he is a _brilliant_ tailor." Althea let her eyes run down Nika's body, which made him feel uncomfortable.

"Did he make your clothes?" she said while looking at the decoration around his sleeves.

"Yes.." He squirmed, which made Althea realize that she was staring. She blushed and looked away. "Lets go inside," he said quickly. She nodded and they went inside the huge shop with the small door.

Inside it looked as if a tornado had passed through. The room was draped with dark red silk which was decorated with golden embroideries. There were mannequins dressed with half done dresses and outfits in the center of the room. Spools of thread in different colors were all over the place and on top of a table there were garments and numerous peaces of folded cloth. On the floor lay scissors, needles and other pointy objects.

"Uhuhum!" Althea twitched. A short, corpulent bosmer had suddenly surfaced from a pile of fabric. His face was red, and he looked a bit unstable. "Is this the girl?" he muttered.

"Yes," said Nika shortly.

"Hm! Needs some work.." The little tailor pulled out a measuring tape from his pocket and started measuring Althea. While working he sang brash songs with a deep voice, mostly to annoy Althea.

"Bring me that sack over there," he told Nika and nodded towards a big, old sack in the corner. Nika sighed, but did as he was told. Inside the sack there were jeweleries, makeup, creams and other beauty products that neither Althea or Nika could name. The bosmer pulled a hairbrush up from the sack and started combing Althea's hair with brusque movements.

"Ao! It's attached to my head you know!" she screamed. The bosmer muttered something and gave the hairbrush to Nika. Nika stared from the hairbrush to Althea and back again, unsure what he should do. Her hair was still a great mess. With hesitant movements he started brushing her hair. _It smells just like lilacs_, he thought.

"Tell me if it hurts," he mumbled.

During the time that he brushed her hair, the little bosmer pulled several peaces of fabric out from the pile and held it up towards Althea's face.

"What is he doing?" she said, sounding bewildered.

"I'm trying to find a color that matches your skin tone!" the bosmer hissed.

"Don't mind him, he can be a bit grumpy," Nika whispered. He couldn't help but to feel amused.

"A _bit_?" Nika smiled and let his fingers run through her soft, wavy hair.

"Think I'm done now." The bosmer, who had heard him, came sprinting towards them with a thick sketchbook in one hand, and white, red and blue fabrics in another.

"Point out the type of clothes you want, and do it quick." He tossed the book towards Althea, luckily Nika caught it before it fell to the ground, he then gave it to Althea.

Her eyes widened as she saw the beautiful gowns, jackets, skirts, pants etc. that the bosmer had designed. She had never seen anything like it.

"How many can I choose?"

Nika laughed. "How many do you want?"

She continued to flip through the book. "All of it.." she admitted.

"Then you should get them all," he said. Althea stared at him, dumbfounded by surprise.

"I can't do that!" she finally said. "I only need a few."

Nika pointed at a gown. "Well.. That one looks beautiful."

"No, no, no!" The bosmer shook his head. "That does not suit her figure at all! Give me that!" he said and snatched the book from her. "I'll make the ones that will suit you, come pick them up on Loredas." The bosmer ran up the stairs. The sound of a door that was slammed shut followed shortly after.

"But.."

"There is no point in arguing with Idris when he has made up his mind."

"Oh, okay." Nika started walking towards the exit. "Wait.."

He turned around. "Yes?"

"Why did he -or well, _you_- brush my hair?"

Nika shrugged. "Guess he can't stand untidy hair. He did the same thing to me when I came here the first time."

"How odd."

"Indeed. We should hurry to Émile, he really wanted to meet you." Althea followed him outside and across the town, towards Rosethorn Hall.

"I'm just a simple nun, why would he trouble himself so much with me?"

"You're not just any nun, and you know that." Althea sighed. _Why can't people understand that I'm not my grandfather._

"But I can't do anything for him, except healing him an cooking for him, but I guess that he already has servants who does that."

"You think too little of yourself. Émile saw something in you, and it's rare that he takes interest in _outsiders_." _That was just a little lie_, Nika thought. It was actually Yatniel who had insisted that Althea should be recruited to their side, and Émile never disagreed with anything his older brother said.

"Look, the sun is rising." Nika didn't look, he just kept walking. When they finally reached Rosethorn Hall, Nika felt as if his skin was burning, and it probably was. He opened the door and more or less pushed Althea inside, then he shut the door quickly.

"Are you okay?" Émile looked worried. He had been waiting for them to arrive.

"No.." Nika groaned in pain. Althea turned towards Nika and shrieked. His face and hands were covered with horrible burns. Émile quickly stepped forward and put his hand on Nika's chest. Althea watched in amazement as blue light passed through Émile's arm into Nika's chest and across his body, healing the burns. His agonized face relaxed, but he still seemed somewhat uneasy.

"You're.."

"A vampire." An old, weather-beaten nord woman, wearing a russet felt outfit and an apron, stepped into the room. She had a harsh look on her face. "Didn't you realize that until _now_?"

"Take it easy Ragnhild." Nika said. "She has never seen a vampire before, so of course she doesn't recognize the signs." Althea felt scared and confused. Several years ago she had met a injured vampire. He had only been a little child and Altheas maternal instinct had gotten the best of her. When she tried to help him, the little boy sunk his fangs into her arm. The following days had been the most painful in her life, but she had been spared from the curse. That little boy had taught her a lesson, vampires could not be trusted.

Émile smiled. "But I'm sure she'll learn all about them in time."

Nika noticed the sudden lack of color in Altheas face.

"Althea, are you feeling alright?" He reached towards her hand, to support her if she felt faint, but she quickly pulled away from him. Nika looked hurt. "Sorry.."

Émile looked a bit surprised. "I hope this doesn't change your decision about joining my army?" _His army?_

Althea shook her head. "I have no other choice but to stay."

"Don't say that. You can return to the priory if you want to."

"No. You have been very kind to me and my conscience wouldn't allow it."

Émile smiled again. "You won't regret it." Althea raised her head and looked Émile in the eyes, and was once again shocked by what she saw. A veil covered his green eyes. The man, who was most likely to rule the empire in the future, was blind.

"Ragnhild, take Althea to her room."

Ragnhild sighed and opened the door to the basement. "This way." Althea followed her without a word. All that had happened had left her feeling worn out, but there was no way that she would be able to sleep in the same house as a vampire.

Émile patted Nika on the shoulder. "Don't worry about it. When she gets to know you better she'll be sure to.."

"It's fine. It doesn't matter." Nika said shortly. "This was what I expected from the start."

"You're lying," said Émile. Nika squirmed. There was something about the way that Émile looked at him that made him feel uncomfortable. That stare Émile had seemed to pierce right through Nika every time. Despite the fact that Émile couldn't actually see, he still seemed to see more than anybody else.

"How's Yatniel?" said Nika, eager to change the subject.

"Like usual." He sighed. "He's staring out the window like he always does. You should go upstairs and talk to him."

"I'll do that," said Nika and nodded. He didn't really think that Yatniel would respond to him, but Émile looked so childish and helpless when he talked about his brother, that Nika couldn't refuse.

"I'm going to pay count Hassildor a visit," Émile said and walked towards the door.

"He's not count anymore, you are, and you should be more careful around him. Not all vampires are like me."

"I know that, but it's not like he could harm me even if he wanted to," said Émile and blinked before exiting the building. Émile still hadn't told Nika that he had given the ring with all the safety spells to Finn the Docker, and he didn't intend to.

Nika took a deep breath and walked up to the third floor, where Yatniel was.

When he opened the door he felt nervous. Yatniel had at the age of twelve been blessed with the ability see the future, but had at the same time lost his mind. He spent most of his time sitting in a chair, staring out of the window with a vacant expression. Once in a while he reacted to something he had seen in the future with various actions. Émile was, of course, very worried about his older brother. Nika had seen Yatniel's mental state deteriorate during the years, and noticed that the times that he was reachable were becoming more and more seldom.

"Yatniel?" Nika was still standing in the doorway. When he didn't get an answer he stepped inside the room. Yatniel was indeed sitting in his chair, looking out the window. "I've brought Althea here. She is in her room, resting." Althea's name seemed to trigger some kind of reaction, cause Yatniel turned his head towards Nika and smiled. "Do you want me to bring her here?" Yatniel seemed to look at something behind Nika, his smile had disappeared.

"You have lost something. If you can't recall his face, death awaits for both of you." Yatniel turned towards the window and disappeared again. Nika was left standing in silence, pondering over what it meant.

"What? No, wait I don't.. _Fuck_." He turned around and marched out of the room. Yatniel's cryptic comment was the last thing he needed right now. Suddenly he heard the sound of the front door being slammed open. Nika recognized Émile's scent and hurried downstairs, worried that Janus had done something to him. The expression on Émile's face wasn't quite the one that Nika had expected.

"He's been murdered!" He looked exited.

"Janus?" said Nika in disbelief.

"No, you idiot! High chancellor Audric! The war has begun!"


	4. Assassination

**Chapter 4 Assassination**

The sound of the crackling firewood and the dancing shadows in the room made it feel cozy. A big, red armchair faced the fireplace. The soft snores that came from it informed Thanatos of where Audric were, it was almost too simple. The door closed soundlessly behind him.

Silently he sneaked up behind the armchair and pulled his dagger. He took a deep breath, well aware of the seriousness of the situation. The thought of starting a war was hard to accept. _But_, he thought, _the old man had it coming._ After Audric had taken over for his father, the late high chancellor, Ocato, the empire had been deteriorating at an alarming speed. He had kept raising the taxes, completely ignoring the increasing number of homeless people on the streets, and he had reestablished the death-penalty in Cyrodiil. In only a month ten people had been executed, all of them had been homeless, and nobody knew what crimes they had committed. The people were unhappy, and because of that they rebelled. Of course the imperial legion had suppressed them quickly, not only by killing the rebels but also by burning down whole villages, but not quick enough. The counties with the strongest leaders had gathered soldiers of their own, to be able to be more independent. As a response to that, the imperial legion had forcibly recruited both young and old. _I'm doing something necessary._

"Hello?" Thanatos froze. "Is anybody there?"

Quickly Thanatos jumped up and held the dagger towards Audric's throat. "If you say a word I'll slit your throat," he hissed. Thanatos could not help but to feel surprised at the sight of the frail old man. In all the portraits he was depicted as a huge muscular man, that looked more like a nord than an altmer.

"Are you going to kill me?" The old man behaved in an unexpectedly calm way.

"Yes," said Thanatos, knowing that it would be for the greater good. _Not that I would have any choice_.

"Oh.. Why?" Thanatos flinched upon hearing the question.

"Many people have prayed to the night mother, many people wishes to see you dead. Although it was only recently that someone could actually afford to pay the price for it." Why the hell was he talking to this man? He should have killed him right away.

"But why? I have led this empire to the best of my abilities, and I thought that the people were happy."

"Your people are starving to death! And despite that you keep raising the taxes. Your executioners are busy with keeping the homeless at bay, and you haven't done anything about it!"

The man blinked, as if he didn't understand what Thanatos was talking about.

"I have not raised the taxes. My advisers have not informed me of this.." Audric suddenly went quiet. He stared into the fire, obviously in deep thought. "I see.." he mumbled. "I am apparently not the one who is ruling over this empire."

"When you die, a war will begin. The greatest war ever heard of. The boarders will be redrawn and a new emperor will be crowned."

"All this years, and I was only a puppet."

"Nothing will ever be the same."

"Merely a puppet."

Thanatos sighed. The old man wasn't even listening. Suddenly Audric looked up so that he could see Thanatos face. The old mans gray eyes were surrounded by wrinkles. Thin white hair covered most of his head. Thanatos felt disgusted. He couldn't even imagine being that old.

"Tell me your name."

"That doesn't concern you. Any last wishes?" Thanatos said coldly.

"Who sent you?"

"Otaktay Avidius," Thanatos said, before he let the edge of his knife slice through the old mans thin skin. Audric made a grizzly gurgling noise before closing his eyes forever.

The burning scent of blood came immediately, and Thanatos had to hurry outside. Self restrain had never been one of his strong sides. After casting an invisibility spell over himself, he sneaked past the guards and started to ascend down the White Gold Tower.

Audric could not possibly have told him the truth. _But not even Kai know what state the empire is in_. A strong feeling of regret suddenly overwhelmed him. That old man hadn't even done anything, he didn't deserve to die like that. Thanatos shook his head in anger.

"Fool.." he muttered. _Like I had a choice._

Quickly he opened the gate and stepped outside into the fresh night air. With the certain smell of midnight and darkness came a feeling of freedom that washed away any feeling of remorse. _Maybe.. I should hunt_. A devilish smile spread across Thanatos dace as he followed the most alluring scent he could find. It felt somewhat familiar, but since he longed to extinguish the burning fire in his throat, he ignored that.

The arena was completely empty. Above him vultures flew in circles. On the other side, the yellow teams side, stood a lonely figure in the shadow. It was too far away for Kai to see who it was, but somehow he already knew, and he knew what he had to do.

After unsheathing his sword he pointed it against his opponent.

"Kneel before me or meet your demise!" he shouted. Kai was surprised to hear that the voice that came from his lips wasn't his, and neither was the words. The dark figure on the other side just laughed.

"Force me.." A huge grin spread across the mans face. _Odd_, Kai thought. He could not actually see the mans eyes, nose or ears, put that horrible grin he could have seen from Dive Rock. Suddenly the man rushed forward, towards Kai. He held a black dagger in his hand, a dagger that seemed to long for blood. Kai tried to move, but his legs wouldn't obey him. _No, these are not my legs_. When he looked down on his hands, they where colored by blood. The whole world had the color of blood. It flowed through the cracks in the walls, into the arena. Kai watched in horror until the arena was filled with it. He was drowning in it, yet he could not move towards the surface. He wasn't sure if it was the man or the blood that had killed him when he fell to the bottom of the blood filled arena.

"God morning." Kai woke up with a jerk. _Just a dream_. But when he looked around in the bedroom he saw that smile again. That horrible, grisly smile. But this time, the man had fangs. "I said.." Thanatos looked as if he had lost his mind. "_God morning._" His eyes didn't have that amber-color that Kai had gotten used to, they were red. _Like blood_.

"Thanatos?" Something was wrong with Thanatos, he looked more like a vampire than he ever had before. He stepped froward and sat down on the edge of Kai's bed, then he leaned forward. Thanatos gazed into Kai's eyes and smiled again. He was so close that their faces almost touched each other.

"Give me.. Your.." The smile disappeared and Thanatos suddenly looked serious. _"Blood_._"_

Kai froze when he felt Thanatos soft lips against his throat.

"Stop," he mumbled quietly, too shocked to put up any real resistance.

"Why would I do something so stupid?" said Thanatos.

"Because.. Because.."

"Because?" Thanatos tongue tickled his neck. Kai was starting to panic, but his body would not move. It was just like the dream.

"You swore to protect me."

"Did I? I don't recall ever making such promise." He laughed softly. "Don't worry, it won't hurt." Kai felt Thanatos fangs scrape against his skin.

"Don't kill me." His word were merely a whisper.

"Would you rather become a vampire?" Kai swallowed. The thought of staying with Thanatos forever sounded rather tempting, but to be doomed to roam the streets at night, in search of innocent victims, that was more than he could bear. He could not answer.

Kai closed his eyes and waited. Thanatos fangs kept scraping against his neck, without actually penetrating his skin. Time passed by, it felt like an hour, or two, but nothing happened. And then, without warning, Thanatos pushed Kai down.

"Are you a _moron_!" His eyes had turned back to their usual color. Thanatos groaned with pain and put his hand over his nose and mouth before backing away from the bed, into a corner. Kai, who was still too shocked to do anything, watched as Thanatos fought his own instincts.

"I can't believe you didn't even _try _to stop me! I was about to kill you!"

Kai stared at Thanatos without knowing what to say or how to act.

Thanatos shook his head and sighed, he seemed more in control now "Why didn't you do anything?"

"What could I possibly have done?" Kai looked crossed. "You're much stronger than me, and I was unarmed."

"You could have _tried_!"

"I shouldn't have to, should I?" Kai muttered.

Thanatos looked as if Kai had slapped him in the face. He stepped forward and sat down at the edge of Kai's bed again. "I know. I'm sorry." His face looked cold, but after looking into his eyes, Kai could see that he was actually sad, or ashamed. _Or maybe both_.

Kai patted him on the shoulder with a shaky hand and tried to smile. "It's okay. I'm not hurt, am I?"

Thanatos didn't answer.

"I haven't been recruited yet," Kai said, hoping that it would cheer Thanatos up a bit.

"You haven't?" Thanatos didn't sound surprised.

Kai shook his head. "Neither have the others at the arena."

"It's true then.." Thanatos mumbled with an reticent look. There was no point in asking him what he meant when he had that expression.

"How often do you lose control like that?" The question surprised Thanatos, who twitched.

"Not often.." He looked down into the floor. "But it happens," he admitted reluctantly. There was obviously something that he wasn't saying.

Kai was just about to ask when he heard some commotion out on the street. When he drew back the curtains he saw guards running back and forth, shouting frantic orders to each other as they went.

"I didn't think that they would notice so soon." Kai felt the blood rushing from his head and for a moment he feared that he would faint.

"You killed him," he said with a cold voice.

Thanatos sighed. "I told you I was going to do it."

"Didn't think you'd actually.." Kai shook his head. "What did he do to deserve something like that?"

"Don't even get me started," Thanatos said before getting up. "I have to look in to something. Meet me outside the stable in two hours." He pulled his hood up and left.

Kai watched him through the window as long as he could. Thanatos was heading towards the Arcane University.

It was hard to believe that Thanatos had actually attacked him. Without thinking he touched the place where Thanatos fangs had touched his neck. Since it felt soar he went over to the big mirror on the other side of the oversized bedroom to take a look. Kai couldn't help but to laugh at the pitiful man staring back at him. His face was still pale and his hair looked like a birds nest. He let his hand drop so that he could take a look at the scrape marks. The first thing he saw was blood. It wasn't much, not even a drop, but even something as small as that was enough to turn him into a vampire. _Why didn't Thanatos notice that?_ Suddenly Kai became afraid. What if he really did turn into a vampire? If he ever lost control like Thanatos just had done, he wouldn't be able to live with himself. _Two hours,_ he thought. He just had to wait two hours, then he could ask Thanatos about it.


	5. Lost Memory

**Chapter 5 Lost Memory**

Even though the man was so much larger than her, he was afraid. She observed him closely, and he didn't like it at all.

"Are you sure you can pull this of?" he muttered. "Otherwise I.."

"I have already preformed the spell several times, and it's flawless." Kalma smiled coldly.

"But you're to weak to use it properly," said Panahasi crudely. The smile disappeared from Kalma's face.

"Weak? You couldn't even kill that old man yourself!" Panahasi froze. He knew that it was dangerous to anger her, even for him. Kalma calmed down and put on a fake smile. "Trust me.." she leaned closer to him, ".. emperor. _Your_ plan will work perfectly. The war will be over in no time, and you will stand victorious." Of course it was _her_ plan, but her minor influence over the imperial legion didn't allow her to carry it out on her own. Standing on Panahasi's side would strengthen her power drastically, and when she didn't need him anymore she could just kill him and take over herself.

Panahasi nodded. "But how are you going to make that spell work in such large scale?"

"That's why he is here," Kalma said and pointed towards the hooded figure.

Vicente sighed. "I will, of course, honor the contract that I made with your grandmother, but I advice you to come up with something else. There is a reason that this spell is forbidden." He had been sitting quietly on one of the benches by the wall, examining an old scroll.

"Have you found a mage powerful enough to preform that spell?" Kalma asked, ignoring Vicente's warning.

He nodded thoughtfully. "I found one right after the oblivion crisis."

Kalma didn't look pleased. She knew that the person casting the spell needed a strong, young body. "An old fossil can't do it," she hissed.

Vicente smiled devilishly. "I am well aware of that. I gave him the dark gift as soon as I had made sure that he was strong enough." He put the scroll into one of his pockets. "I actually found another mage who was nearly as strong as him, but he managed to escape."

Kalma shook her head reproachfully. "One is good enough. Where is he?"

"He should be somewhere in the city." Vicente looked somewhat like a proud father. "Hopefully he has gotten out of the golden tower by now."

Panahasi looked up. "What is he doing in the go.."

Kalma ignored him. "Hopefully?"

"He won't get caught, I trained him myself."

Kalma walked over to a bookshelf and viewed a dusty old book. "Does he know what he's supposed to do?"

"No, but when the time comes, he _will_ follow my orders."

"You sound a bit too confident."

"Is that a bad thing?" Vicente smiled. Kalma frowned and put the book back in the shelf.

"Panahasi, reme.."

"Call me _emperor_!" he shouted.

Kalma took a deep breath. Oh, if she could use the _enemies explode_ spell on him.

"Forgive me, my emperor. I just wanted to make sure that your highness remembers to include me in the council."

Panahasi waved his hand towards her. "Yeah, yeah."

_Idiot_, she thought. "It's not like you'll have a hard time convincing them. How can they say no to the arch-mage?"

"They probably want to keep their heads," Vicente muttered. Kalma glared at him. Panahasi didn't react, he probably didn't understand the joke.

"Bring the mage here." Vicente bowed and left the council chambers.

He and the other two were completely unaware of the fourth person hiding in the shadows.

"Are you sure this will work?"

Kalma frowned. "We've already been through this. If the mage is as powerful as Vicente says, then it will work."

"Why can't I just use my army?" Panahasi sounded like a squeaky little kid.

"Because it's too small! If it had just been Skyrim attacking, you would've won. But you're facing two armies, and if we don't do something soon.."

"They're gonna start cooperating and we won't stand a chance. I get it, I get it.." Panahasi looked down on his feat. "But opening an Oblivion gate?"

"Oh, little brother.. You've always been such a wimp." Kalma snickered. "With that spell we can control it! Mehrunes Dagon has been defeated, you can take his place and become a daedric prince." Panahasi still looked doubtful so Kalma added: "You would be invincible!"

A greedy smile spread across Panahasi's face. "Okay, my dear sister, we'll do as you wish."

"Good.. Now go, and seize hold of this empire."

"I've already been in charge of it in over ten years."

"Not officially." Panahasi nodded and left the room.

Kalma sighed. "I'm surrounded by idiots. Too bad that the spell will kill that mage, he might have been interesting," she mumbled before stepping on the portal to her quarters.

Thanatos could not believe what he just had heard. Vicente had betrayed him and the arch-mage had a spell that could open a Oblivion gate. Now he knew why Kai hadn't been recruited. They wanted to keep their best fighters alive, in case the spell backfired. He raised his hand to cast a new invisibility spell on himself and then he sneaked out of the Arcane University.

The streets were packed full with people. Panicky voices filled the air with a high pitch lament. The guards were ordering people to go home, but no one listened. They wanted to find out what had happened, and who was behind it. It was dangerous for Thanatos to stay invisible in such a crowded space. At first Thanatos plan was to return to Kai, but then he picked up Vicente's weak scent.

After following Vicente's scent to a room in the Tiber Septim hotel Thanatos became hesitant. What was he supposed to say? He wasn't angry, just.. Empty. Vicente had been like a brother or father to him, but apparently that had just been a facade. After taking a deep breath he knocked on the door. There was definitely someone moving around inside the room, but no one opened. Thanatos knocked again. This time he heard a voice.

"Yes?" It was Vicente.

"Could you let me in?" said Thanatos with a low voice.

"Thanatos?" He sounded quite surprised.

"Open the door." Vicente quickly opened the door and nodded towards the bed.

"Take a seat."

"I'd rather stand." Thanatos didn't know what to say. The whole situation was so bizarre.

Vicente could see that something was wrong. "Did you want to talk to me about something."

Thanatos looked down on the floor. "Tell me about the day you found me."

Vicente looked surprised. "I've already told you this a thousand times."

"Tell me," he insisted.

Vicente sighed and sat down on the bed. "Well.. You know the story already. I found you laying on the blue road, close to Cheydinhal, with your scull crushed. You were dying so I turned you into a vampire to save you, end of story."

"Stop lying!" Thanatos clutched his fists so hard that his arms started to shake. "Tell me the truth.. Just this once."

Vicente stared at him, dumbfounded. Now his whole body was shaking, and he had a hard time holding his tears back. _Pathetic_, Thanatos thought. He had always thought that he had good control over himself, but obviously that was just another thing he had gotten wrong.

"Thanatos.. Whatever you believe that you know, it's wrong. I've never lied to you."

"Then what the hell is _that_?" Thanatos shouted and pointed at the scroll on the nightstand.

"It's just a scroll.. Are you feeling alright?" Vicente looked worried, but Thanatos couldn't tell if he was upset about him discovering the truth, or because he was so upset.

"I _know._ You don't have to lie anymore."

"What is it that you think you know?"

"That I'm supposed to use that scroll to open an Oblivion gate, and that I will die because of it.. And that you were the one that made me lose my memories." He whispered the last words. It was as if all his anger had been washed away and left him completely powerless.

Vicente didn't answer. It looked as if he was contemplating hos next move.

"You were eavesdropping."

"Why?"

Vicente sighed. "At the last Oblivion crisis the former arch-mage received a spell with the ability to reopen the great Oblivion gate, but the spell required a tremendous power to work, so no one was able to use it. The arch-mage signed a contract with me, an unusual contract. I was meant to find a really powerful mage and make him or hear preform the spell, and in that way.. Kill that person." Thanatos couldn't hold his tears back anymore. Vicente was the only person he had ever trusted. When Vicente tried to put a comforting hand on his shoulder he backed away, into the corner.

"Go on," he said with a shaky voice.

"I heard about two promising mages, a wizard and a warlock, bothers, working for the mages guild. I followed them for a couple of days, to make sure that at least one of them were powerful enough. After confirming that they both had what it took I set up an ambush on the blue road." Thanatos felt the taste of blood in his mouth, he had been biting his lip.

"I knocked one of them out and Teinaava took the other one. We took them to the sanctuary and, since I knew that they had to be young and healthy to cast the spell, I gave them both the dark gift. Unfortunately one managed to escape, and I still haven't found him. The other one.. Well.. I gave him a new name and put him to work." Vicente smiled. "And you can probably guess which name I gave him."

"Thanatos.." he mumbled. _Is not my real name. _

"What are you going to do now, when you know the truth?"

"Haven't decided yet. I'm trying to choose between killing you slowly or simply running away."

"Don't you want to know?" Vicente didn't look especially afraid.

"Know what?"

"Your real name, for a start."

Thanatos blinked. Of course he wanted to know his name. _Why didn't I think of that?_ And he wanted to know the name of his brother too. Suddenly the idea of killing Vicente didn't seem so smart.

"Tell me."

Vicente smiled. "Your thirst for knowledge will be my lifesaver."

"Just tell me," Thanatos said. He was starting to get annoyed. _Well, at least I'm not crying anymore._

"Lihau Summergrove. It's a pretty nice name, don't you think?"

"What was my bothers name?"

"Do you really think I'll tell you, just like that? You'll have to work for it."

"What do you mean work? If I cast that spell I'll die."

Vicente shook his head. "That wasn't what I meant."

"Then what do you want me to do?"

"Oh, it's quite simple. You know that man you always visit when you're in the Imperial City?"

"Yes?" There was something weird about this. Why would he mention Kai?

"I need you to kill him?"

"What?" Thanatos could actually feel his own world crumble under his feat. He wanted to know, and he wanted it so bad.

"Kill him and I'll tell you everything you want to know." Vicente chuckled. "And who knows, I might even know where your brother is, _Lihau_."

It had gotten dark again. _Two hours_, he had said. More than ten hours had past, and Thanatos still hadn't arrived. Hunger and thirst didn't matter anymore. He wasn't afraid anymore, just curious. _How hard can it be? _he thought. If Thanatos managed to live as a vampire, why couldn't he? And besides, the puncture wound was so small he could barely see it. Maybe it was just a red spot or something.

Slowly Kai got up from the stone he had been sitting on. His arms and legs had fallen asleep so he started to move around a little. Maybe he should go back home? Thanatos probably wouldn't show up tonight, so Kai might as well go home and get some sleep.

Something moved. In the corner of his eye, Kai saw a bush move unnaturally, against the wind.

"Hello?" he said, feeling like an idiot. It was probably just a stray dog or something.

Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder. Instinctively he pulled a dagger and turned around, ready to face whoever it was.

Thanatos pulled down his hood. "It's just me," he said with a monotonous voice. Kai immediately sheathed his dagger.

"You scared me." Thanatos didn't look alright. He was even paler than usual and his eyes, that usually had a warm, vibrant color, looked dead.

"Since you didn't get recruited to the legion you can leave right? Like I said before."

Kai blinked. _Leave?_ "Why? I can defend myself, you know."

Thanatos expression didn't change. Kai couldn't see properly in the dark, but he could feel the smell of blood coming from Thanatos, and his robe looked wet. _He doesn't seem affected at all._

"I've been told to kill you. You have to leave."

With a calm that almost surprised himself he said: "Are you going to do it?"

Thanatos mouth twitched. "No. Leave now."

"Aren't you coming with me?" Kai said, trying to sound disappointed. It was no use. Thanatos didn't react in any way.

"That wouldn't be safe."

"Safe?"

"I can't see you anymore, it's too dangerous. I almost killed you this morning, and I don't want to put you in any unnecessary danger."

Automatically Kai put his hand on his neck. A scarf hid the scrape marks. "You might not have to worry about that anymore."

His eyes widened. With a brusque movement he teared Kai's scarf of. His sharp eyes noticed the mark immediately. "No.." He pulled Kai closer and tried to catch his scent. Kai's heart pounded so hard that it felt like his chest were going to split open. Thanatos quickly backed away. His face was distorted by pain. "I'm sorry," he cried.

"It can't be cured, right?" Kai didn't know how to react. Was he happy or sad? Or maybe he felt nothing.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Thanatos wavered unstably from side to side before falling to his knees.

Kai sat down next to him and put his hand on Thanatos head. His attempt to smile was ghastly, he knew it, but he didn't want to see Thanatos like that. "It's okay."

Thanatos stared at him in disbelief. "Okay? I've cursed you! Condemned you to roam this land forever! You have no idea what it's like.."

This time his smile looked more believable. "I'll learn to live with it. You'll help me, right?" Thanatos didn't answer. He looked lost. "I trust you," Kai mumbled.

"Don't. I'll let you down. I let everybody down." It was unusual to hear Thanatos talk like that. He was always so calm and collected. _Almost cocky._

Kai gently patted him on the head, as if he was a dog. "You won't let me down."

"That's what Vicente said to, before I killed him." _The blood_, Kai thought, _it's from Valtieri._ That's why he seemed so unaffected by it.

"Why did you do that?"

Thanatos looked as if he suddenly remembered something. "We'll talk on the way to Skingrad. Come with me." With a graceful movement he got up from the ground.

"Skingrad?" Kai didn't know what to think. Thanatos acted as if all their problems had suddenly been washed away.

"We're gonna have a chat with the grandson of the Champion of Cyrodiil."

Kai stood up. "Wait a minute! Isn't he the leader of the rebels?"

Thanatos looked at Kai with a raised eyebrow. "Rebels? They're a bit more than just rebels."

"Are you going to meet him like that?" Kai pointed at the blood soaked robe that Thanatos was wearing.

"I'll wash it of in a stream or something," he mumbled. He sniffed the air with a glimpse of curiosity in his eyes. He took a step forward, placing himself as close as he could to Kai. Then he just stood there for a long time, staring at Kai's eyes. "I'm no longer drawn to your scent." A little smile appeared on his lips. "Now when it doesn't burn, it's actually quite nice.. Reminds me of the autumn. Damp soil and dead leafs."

"Is that supposed to be a compliment?"

"Yes.. You smell good." Then he did something unexpected.

He leaned forward and carefully placed his lips on Kai's neck. Slowly he pierced the skin with his fangs.

"Wait, what are you.." Kai suddenly felt very weak. A strong arm caught him when his legs gave away.

Thanatos carefully pulled his fangs out and healed the puncture wounds that they left. "I'm sorry, I just had to taste."

"Doesn't it taste.. Tainted?" Thanatos helped him regain his balance.

"Vampire blood has a much purer taste than human blood." Together they started walking towards the stable.

"So you could survive just on vampire blood?"

"Yes, but the vampire that who's blood you drink would have to drink twice as much human blood."

"Oh.." He had a lot to learn. Two horses stood saddled close to the stable. Thanatos mounted the darkest one. "I didn't know you owned any horses," Kai said and mounted the other one.

"I don't," mumbled Thanatos before he got the horse to trot. Kai smiled and followed him. _Stupid of me to think that he had actually changed._

"Now you can tell me what happened," Kai said.

"Yes.. I'm not sure were to begin though."

"Just tell me what happened after you left my place."

Thanatos sighed. "You won't believe what I'm going to tell you.."


	6. A Plan

**Chapter 6 A Plan**

It was a cold, damp morning. The ground was still wet after the heavy rain the night before and a fog was starting to rise. After several hours of preparing it for the battle the big field looked like a big puddle of mud. Finn sniffled. He was bound to get a cold. From deep within the forest on the other side he could hear the ominous sound of a drum. It frightened the people around him, but Finn stayed calm. He knew that no one could injure him, no matter how hard they tried.

"Archers, be ready." That smooth voice belonged to Nika, the servant he had met a couple of months ago. The grandson of the Champion of Cyrodiil, who apparently was called Émile Windstone, had sent Nika to lead the archers during battle. Instinctively he touched the ring on his thumb. It had more or less led him to where he was. He had volunteered to join Émile's army because he wanted a chance to return it.

A fight in The Flowing Bowl had gone wrong and one of the sailors had pulled a dagger. Finn was the one standing closest to the armed sailor, so he tried to push him down on the floor. Unfortunately he was sober enough to anticipate Finn's move and dodge. For a while they struggled in an unfair battle, but then Algernon tried to help him, which only resulted in Finn getting stabbed. Algernon and his grandfather pulled Finn out of the tavern, but since neither of them knew any healing spells they couldn't do anything to help him. After watching the pool of blood around Finn grow for a while Algernon went to find someone from the mages guild. Finn could feel how his strength left him and it didn't take long until he saw "the light" -it was more like a lack of darkness than light- and he realized that he was going to die. After that he didn't remember anything more, but Anguilon had told him what happened after he lost consciousness. Apparently the ring had started to glow and somehow it had healed him before Algernon came back with the mages guild member. Somehow it had saved him. Émile had saved him.

The sound of the drum was getting closer.

"On my signal," said Nika and raised his arm as much as he could. Finn could only see his hand from where he stood, but the archers in the trees behind him could see the whole battlefield clearly. The drum came closer and closer, and after a while they could finally see the first soldiers coming out of the forest.

"Wait." The soldiers were picking up speed. The drum beat quicker now. Finn was getting nervous. How close would Nika allow them to go before lowering his hand? The soldiers in front of him were unsheathing their weapons, so Finn followed their example and pulled the old sword he had been given when he came to the camp in Skingrad. Suddenly Nika let his arm drop and hundreds of arrows whistled through the sky.

All the arrows had been enchanted so that they exploded on impact. The soldiers on the other side of the field were swallowed in flames immediately, they didn't even have time to scream. No more soldiers came out of the woods when the smoke had cleared. The men around Finn stared at the charred remains in disbelief.

"Is this a joke?" one of them mumbled.

"It's a trap. It must be," another one said.

Nika was making his way through the neat rows of soldiers. When he passed by, Finn could hear him mutter to himself: "This was too easy."

Without thinking about it Finn grabbed Nika's shoulder to stop him. Nika looked at him with out any sign of recognition in his eyes.

"Yes?" he said with an annoyed voice.

Finn swallowed. Nika always managed to make him nervous. "I want to return this to Émile," he said and showed Nika the ring on his thumb.

At first Nika looked confused, but then his expression gradually changed to anger. "Where did you steal that?" The soldiers looked at them with curiosity, it wasn't like Nika to raise his voice. "We'll talk about it later," Nika said with a low, threatening voice before returning to his archers.

"Line up men! We're going back to the camp!" Einar Brunsdahl, a sturdy nord, was the one in charge of the soldiers. Everybody hurried to get back in line and a moment later they where ordered to march. It was about a days journey back to Skingrad. Nika and his little troop of selected archers was nowhere to be seen. They had probably chosen to go ahead, since the heavy armor and weapons slowed the soldiers down considerably.

When they arrived at the camp it was already past midnight. Most of the men went inside their tents immediately to sleep, while the rest of them drank. The mood in the camp had gone down considerably since the morning, which was odd since they didn't even have to lift their swords. Indeed it had been way too easy.

"Why weren't there any mages with them? I mean.. The Mages Guild is on their side, right?"

A woman wearing a mage's robe shrugged. "I thought so, but after today I'm not sure anymore."

"In fact I didn't see one single soldier with proper equipment. Isn't that weird?"

Finn sat down beside the mage. "It was almost like a execution.." he mumbled.

The mage turned her head to look at him. "That was harsh. It's not like we could have done anything different."

Finn smiled apologetically. "Sorry, I didn't mean to sound like I was blaming you. But can there really be another reason for sending such amateurish soldiers?"

The swordsman that the mage had been talking to, before turning to Finn, looked appalled.

"Surely they can't execute their own soldiers, that would be idiotic."

Finn shrugged. "You're probably right. Seems odd though."

The two nodded before changing the topic to a more merry one. Finn didn't really listen, but it was something about ogre-training becoming more popular.

After a minute or two he decided to go to bed. Nika probably wouldn't contact him until tomorrow.

That night he was haunted by nightmares. Burned bodies crawled after him, screaming his name with horrible voices. If one succeeded to grab him by the ankles, they would pull him down and crawl over him until he couldn't breath anymore. After waking up for the umpteenth time he decided that enough was enough and got out of the tent for some fresh air.

The sun still hadn't risen above the mountains, but it was light enough for a walk through town. Normally the guards wouldn't let anyone of the soldiers inside, it would cause to much of a crowd, but nobody really cared about one or two so early in the morning.

When waking past West Weald In he saw Einar Brunsdahl hurrying out of the Fighters Guild-building, he looked stressed and disorderly. A young woman in remarkably complimenting menswear bounced after him, looking like a little girl following her father. Finn watched them closely until they disappeared behind the corner of the Colovian Traders._ What was that about?_ he wondered, but decided to not look any further into it.

He was just about to step into the West Weald In when an angry voice made him stop dead in his tracks.

"Stop right there, criminal scum!" Finn turned around and saw Nika sprinting towards him.

"I haven't stolen anything, give it a rest you stuck-up.." before he had time to finish the insult Nika grabbed him by the arm and pulled him in the same direction that Einar had taken.

"You're gonna wait in the hallway while I talk to Émile. If what you say is true then you can go, but if it's not I'm gonna.."

"Tear me to shreds?" Finn suggested.

Nika frowned. He flung open a door and more or less tossed Finn inside before shutting it behind himself.

"You really need to stop throwing my guests inside, it's a very bad habit." Finn immediately recognized the voice. When he looked up he saw a very peculiar looking young man. He was clearly blind, but his steady gaze still seemed to register even the smallest movements. The smile on his face looked a bit silly and his dark hair looked messy, as if he had just gotten out of bed. Just judging by his looks, Finn would guess that he was 15 or 16 years old. _He's older then he looks_. Finn could tell that from his way to move his body. There was a certain graze in his movements that didn't belong to a boy.

Nika took no notice of his joke. "How come this man has your ring?"

Émile smiled sheepishly. "Because I gave it to him."

Nika made a noise that Finn hadn't heard before, it was almost like a growl. "You must be kidding me. Don't you know how much I went through to acquire that ring?"

"I know, but he needed it more than I did at that time, and besides.. He brought it back, didn't he?"

Nika sighed and seemed to calm down. "Something Yatniel said?"

Émile nodded and turned towards Finn. "May I have it back?" he said and reached his hand out.

Finn immediately took the ring of and gave it to Émile. "Certainly. I want to thank you. You saved my life."

Émile just shook his head and smiled. "Why don't you stay for a while? I must attend to a meeting now, but afterward I want to talk to you. Ragnhild will make you some food," he said and smiled.

An all but happy expression covered Nika's face when he showed Finn the kitchen. When he left Finn could feel someone staring at him so he turned around. By a large fireplace stood an old Nord woman who were preparing some shepherd's pie.

"Hello." It was a young woman who had spoken. She was beautiful, but seemed somewhat uncomfortable in the big mansion. _Like the walls are gonna fall on her_.

"Oh well, another mooch," the old lady sighed.

Finn tried to smile. "I'm not staying that long. I'm just here to speak to Émile, then I'll be leaving."

"Hmph! They all say that at first, but somehow they always end up living here. You're a mooch, no doubt about it." Her harsh tone seemed to make the other woman even more nervous.

"Oh, shut your gap and give me some food woman!"

For a while Ragnhild just stared at him, unable to comprehend what he just had said, but then she put one of the hot pies on a plate and served him the food. She even poured some wine for him from an old, fine bottle before leaving the room.

"I can't believe she didn't hit you," the woman said.

Finn grinned when he tucked in on the rich pie. "No other way to handle a Nord woman when she's in that mood," he said with his mouth full. The woman smiled timidly.

At the third floor of Rosethorn hall five people waited for Émile and Nika's arrival. The atmosphere was tense, to say the least. Einar and Laverne stood in one corner of the room and Kai and Thanatos in the other. In between them sat Yatniel, staring out of the window with his usual spaced out look.

Émile was the first to enter the room. While he was greeting Einar and Laverne, Nika slipped into the room. The first thing he noticed was Kai. He was shaking like a leaf, as if he was about to freeze to death and he looked pale. If it hadn't been for the odd, amber-brown color of his eyes Nika would have thought that he was sick, but that obviously wasn't the case. By pure instinct he placed himself between Émile and Kai, just in case.

"Friends, I have some alarming news for you," Émile was talking to Einar and Laverne. "Less than an hour ago these two gentlemen arrived here, and showed me a scroll." Émile stopped and nodded to Thanatos, who unlike Kai hadn't bothered to take his hood of. Thanatos pulled the scroll up from his bag and presented it to the others.

"A scroll?" Einar sighed. "I do admit that the idea about the arrows wasn't a bad one, but please.. We can't win a war with a scroll." He had never had much belief magic, that was the reason he had joined the Fighters Guild in the first place.

Laverne acted differently. She quickly snapped the scroll out of Thanatos hands and looked at it closely. "Exquisite parchment, beautiful writing with the most expensive inc. This must be worth a fortune." Since Émile recognized that lingering gaze of hers from the time that he lost his purse, he quickly removed the scroll from her hands.

"I'm sure it is," Émile said before turning to Thanatos. "Tell them what you told me."

He was just about to start when Nika cut him of. "Can you do something about _that_ first?" he said and frowned at Kai.

"Nika.." Émile said in a reproachful tone.

"He's a danger to everyone here, I can't just ignore it!"

"Leave him alone." Thanatos didn't sound happy.

Laverne and Einar both looked confused. "Is it contagious?" Einar said and scratched his head.

Nika couldn't help but to laugh. "You could say that."

The laughing quickly stopped when Thanatos growled loudly. "I'm not gonna stay here and let you insult him. Goodbye." He grabbed Kais arm and walked towards the door, but before he could reach it Émile stepped in the way.

"I'm sorry for this, but please don't leave. I still have more questions for you."

"Get out of the way!" he growled. Émile just shook his head.

"Nika," he said and pointed at the door.

"But.."

"Sorry, but I need to get my questions answered. I'll tell you later."

Nika reluctantly exited the room without saying another word. It was clear to everybody that he wasn't pleased.

Thanatos looked around, trying to figure out if he should leave or not. After a few seconds he dragged Kai over to the table and sat down.

"Don't really know where to start.." he mumbled. "I received this scroll from Vicente Valtieri, former speaker of the Dark Brotherhood. Apparently it has the power to open a Great Oblivion Gate."

Einar and Laverne gasped for air at the same time. Émile who had already heard most of the story stood silent with a grave expression.

"Arch-Mage Kalma has apparently opened minor gates with it, but she wasn't powerful enough to open a Great Gate."

"Then we have nothing to worry about, right? Even if they had the scroll they wouldn't be able to use it," Laverne said with a smile.

Émile shook his head. "I wouldn't be so sure. I doubt that this is the only scroll."

"But they have no way of using it," said Einar. Émile simply nodded towards Thanatos, so that he would continue.

"Apparently there are two mages that are powerful enough to use it. I'm one of them."

Émile listened carefully because this was new to him.

"I have no idea where the other one is, but I know that he's a vampire.."

"Yippie, vampires!" Einar snorted.

Thanatos grinned, revealing his fangs. "Indeed."

Einar almost stumbled over his own feet when he quickly pulled his claymore. "Is this what Nika spoke about earlier?"

Émile sighed. "Einar, sheath your weapon. If he wanted to hurt us he would've come here _before_ sunrise."

Einar didn't sheath his claymore, but he relaxed a bit. "Fine. But if any of them try anything.."

"How do you know that he is a vampire?" Émile interrupted.

"Apparently Vicente turned us into vampires at the same time, but I have no recollection of it. We were.." Thanatos looked out of the window. His hood had slid back a little, so that they could see the fine features of his face. "Brothers."

"So this man might still work within the mages guild?" Laverne said.

"I don't think so. If he had, they would have tried to use him instead of me."

"I've gotten reports about strange movements within the mages guild recently. I thought that they were looking for some magic object or something, but what they're really searching for must be your brother." Laverne smiled. She had an odd smile, it made her look like a cat, despite the fact that she wasn't a Kahjiit. "Been wondering about that."

"Shouldn't you know where he is? I mean, he's your brother." Einar sounded annoyed.

"I don't even remember what he looks like, much less his name. I have no idea how to find him."

Émile smiled. "Laverne, you should be able to help with that, right?"

She smiled again. "I'll ask around."

"Until we find him and render him harmless we have to have a plan. As I see it, they could strike any minute now," said Einar.

Thanatos laughed coldly. "Yea, we just need to find someone who remembers how to close an oblivion gate. That should be easy." Thanatos knew, as well as the others, that the last living man to close an oblivion gate was Selestin Windstone, and he had passed away over 30 years ago.

"Can't we just look it up in a book?" Einar wondered.

Émile shook his head. "Remember that time, it must have been 9 years ago, when the high chancellor suddenly decided to burn a bunch of books? Luckily Nika managed to save my grandfathers journal. Guess we should try to read it."

"Try?" Thanatos said.

"Well, it's written in a language that I don't recognize."

"Let's have a look anyway." Laverne insisted. She probably wanted to see if there were any secrets written in it, greedy for information as she was.

Émile nodded and went over to the desk. From one of the drawers he retrieved a small book. The leather cover looked old. When he opened it some of the pages fell out and spread over the floor.

Laverne carefully collected the fragile pages and gave them to Émile. "Is this even a language? It just looks like a bunch of random drawings."

Einar leaned over to look. "Yeah, and they ain't even pretty."

Émile sighed. "That's what I thought too when I first looked at it. But my father had a similar journal, and he wrote in it everyday, so I find it hard to believe that it's just a sketchpad. They must have had some kind of code."

"And how are we going to solve it?" Thanatos sighed. He had already given up, that was obvious.

"I don't know, but we have to do it somehow, or we will perish if they manage to open the gate," Émile said.

"Sorry to interrupt but," Nika came in through the door again, "I might be able to help you with that." He kept a watchful eye on Kai as he went to have a look on the book.

"Have you been listening he whole time?" Thanatos wondered. He didn't seem angry, just confused, and he looked at Émile like he was expecting him to get angry.

"Of course. I don't leave the safety of my master in the hands of the likes of you," Nika said with a voice that sounded even prouder than it normally did.

"The likes of me? Have you looked in the a mirror lately? Oh, that's right.. You can't 'cause you're a vampire just like me!" Thanatos laughed at Einars pale face. "You should really learn how to spot a vampire."

"Nika's _not_ like you," Émile said with a stern voice. "Can you read this?" he said in a gentler tone and pointed at the book.

Nika shook his head. "But I know how to close an oblivion gate."

Émile looked surprised. "Did my grandfather teach you?"

"Yes. Since he knew that I would be serving this family for the rest of my life, he thought that I should know.. Just in case."

Émile nodded. "Then tell me." His expression was inscrutable.

"It's simple really. You just have to get to the top of the highest tower and remove the sigil stone that keeps the gate open."

"It won't be _easy_ to get through the hoards of deadra you'd be facing." Laverne looked serious, strangely enough.

"With an invisibility spell they wouldn't even be able to see you, much less fight you," said Thanatos. Nika didn't like it, but he agreed with him. With an invisibility spell the person who entered would be safe, or at least _safer._

"Well you can count me out if we have to be stealthy. Not my thing you know.."

"I'll do it!" said Nika and Thanatos at the same time.

Nika immediately got a suspicious look on his face. "What's in it for you?"

Thanatos shrugged. "Glory? A chance to escape the gallows when all has settled down? Who knows."

"Both of you should go," said Émile. "It will be safer for both of you."

"Guess we have a plan then," said Einar.

Nika sighed. "I'm not gonna wait for you if you fall behind."

"Back at you."

Since the sun had already risen Thanatos and Kai couldn't leave the house. Instead they choose to stay in Yatniel's room. Nika and Émile stayed to. Émile wanted to know more about the strangers pasts, and Nika stayed to protect him. For the first time they heard Kai's voice. He sounded weak when he told them about his days in the arena, and they were both very surprised to hear that the strong young man they had seen in the arena had been diminished to the thin, shivering, diseased man before them. Then, in the middle of their conversation Yatniel suddenly turned around and gazed at Thanatos.

"If you can't recall his face, death awaits for both of you," he said with a solemn voice.

Émile was probably the one who looked most surprised after hearing his brothers voice. "What did you see?" But it was too late. Yatniel had already turned back to his window.

Nika stared at Thanatos. _His face? _Then he reached out to pull Thanatos hood back.

**Facts about the characters:**

**Émile**

Race: 50% Altmer, 25% Breton, 25% Imperial (and a teeny tiny bit of Kahjiit)

Birthsign: The Lord

Class: Bard

Rank: Count, Skingrad

**They're only half-brothers!**

**Yatniel**

Race: 75% Altmer, 25% Imperial

Birthsign: The Atronach

Class: Healer

**Nika**

Race: 50% Breton, 50% Imperial (Vampire)

Birthsign: The Steed

Class: Nightblade

Rank: (Former) Wizard, Mages Guild

He dropped out of the Mages Guild when they choose to support the High Chancellor.

**Finn**

Race: 75% Nord, 25% Imperial

Birthsign: The Warrior

Class: Scout

Rank: Apprentice, Fighters Guild

**Althea**

Race: 100% Breton

Birthsign: The Lady

Class: Healer

Rank: (Uncertain) Nun, Priory of the Nine

She hasn't heard from the priory since she ran away with Nika.

**Kai**

Race: 100% Imperial

Birthsign: The Lover (unexpected, eh?)

Class: Warrior

Rank: Grand Champion, The Arena

**Einar**

Race: 100% Nord

Birthsign: The Warrior

Class: Crusader

Rank: Master, Fighters Guild

… There will be more facts in the next chapter! (Btw, if you have _any_ suggestions on how I should continue this story, please speak up! 'Cause I have no idea..)


	7. Beyond the Gate

**Chapter 7 Beyond the Gate**

He just stared. _It can't be true, it's impossible. _It was just like he remembered it, nothing had changed over the years. Nothing.

"What? I can't possibly look _that_ horrible." Thanatos sounded annoyed, but Nika didn't even notice that he had said something. Slowly he backed away from Thanatos.

"It can't be true." He suddenly felt as if his legs had lost all their strength.

"Um.. Nika? Are you feeling all right?" Émile looked worried. Nika wasn't the type to get startled easily.

"Have you seen me somewhere before?" A devilish smile spread across Thanatos face. "I've been to this house before, but I don't remember seeing you here at that time."

"Monster.." Nika mumbled before unsheathing his dagger. He pointed it at Thanatos. "You were the one who killed him. How dare you come here again?" Nika lashed out at Thanatos.

There was a loud bang and suddenly Nika lay flat on the floor. The dagger was stuck in the wall on the opposite side of the room. He didn't even have time to get up before Kai was over him, pinning him to the ground with surprising strength, not that he needed to, the paralysing spell that Émile had conjured was more than enough to hold him down.

"Mind explaining this to me?" Émile looked at Thanatos with a confused expression.

"I'd better not. We don't want to be thrown out in the sun."

"You have your enchanted hood on, so a little sunlight won't kill you." Èmile's voice had taken on a threatening tone.

Thanatos smiled. "I think we'll just go. Your little dog can tell you everything you need to know."

With a swift movement of his hand, Émile had rendered both Kai and Thanatos to the floor too. "You're going to tell me, _now_," said Émile calmly.

Thanatos snickered. "Fine, I'll tell you.. But I'm going to do so standing." Without even blinking he broke Émile's spell and stood up. He cleared his throat before beginning. "Oh, where shall I start? As you already know I used to lead the dark brotherhood. A couple of years back, when I was only a simple slayer, I was sent to this house."

Nika could see the change in Émile's face. He had realized what Thanatos had done. "You killed my father," he said coldly.

Thanatos nodded. If he regretted what he had done, he didn't show it.

"Go down to the cellar, the sun won't reach you there," he said with a sigh. Nika couldn't believe his ears. "I will probably need you later. But heed my warning, if you hurt anyone in this household I will kill you, special powers or not, you won't stand a chance against me."

A cheeky smile swept over Thanatos face, but he quickly resumed a serious expression. "If you say so," he said before pulling Kai up from the floor and exiting the room.

As soon as the door had closed behind them Nika got up, freed from the paralysing spell, and turned to look Émile in the eye. "How the hell can you let him stay here?"

"You have no right to lecture me. We need him if we are to win this war."

Nika could see the sadness and hate stirring underneath his calm exterior, and felt a sudden bolt of empathy for the young man. Despite being constantly neglected by his father when he was younger, he had been the one who had taken Avinoam's death the hardest. Yatniel, always favoured by his father, had already gone mad by then, and didn't show any sign of grieving.

Nika nodded. "I'm sorry. I know you always put your people first."

To his great relief, Émile smiled. "Stop calling them _my _people. It sounds weird."

Down in the basement Kai was getting worse by the second. He was now sitting down against the wall and shaking uncontrollably, and Thanatos could do nothing but watch. Turning into a vampire wasn't easy, he knew that, but he had always hoped that Kai would never have to go through the experience. Luckily, it looked like the transofmation was almost complete.

He gently placed his hand on Kai's back. "How's it going?"

Kai was unable to answer, but Thanatos could see the slight curl of his lips. _"Don't worry," _was probably what he wanted to say.

"It will stop soon, I can feel it on your scent."

"Oh goodie, more mooches!" Ragnhild had gone down in the basement to fetch some potatoes. "But at least these two don't need any food," she mumbled before going upstairs again.

Émile was sitting at the dinner table, talking to Finn and Althea. Since Althea refused to be in the same room as Nika, he chose to wait in the hallway. For several minutes all they talked about was yesterdays battle, or execution, depending on who was speaking.

Émile nodded sadly. "It's ad I've been told then. They just gathered up the poor people and sent them out on the battlefield, as a decoy. If no soldiers came, we would have gotten suspicious."

Althea looked appalled. "Then we can't do anything the next time they attack."

Émile shook his head. "We can't just let them concur everything they want just because we don't want to dirty or hands. You have a good heart, I know, but a true saviour knows that ones head must always rule supreme.. And besides, I don't think that they will do that again, considering the fact that they didn't manage to kill even one of our soldiers."

She didn't like the answer, but nodded anyway since she knew that he was right. Finn looked up from his plate and swallowed loudly. "What is it that they are trying to by time for?"

Without hesitation Émile explained. He knew he could trust them both, even though the man on the other side of the door did not. The expressions on the other two faces went from astonished to horrified to grave as they listened silently.

"So they're going to open a gate into Oblivion? Is that even possible when there is no deadric prince controlling the place?" said Finn matter-of-factly when Émile was done.

Émile just stared at Finn. The docker was indeed much wiser than he looked. "You have a point. Since the arch-mage has already opened minor gates it must be possible, but a world without leader can't stay stable forever."

"Then someone should take over," muttered Ragnhild from the open fireplace.

Émile nodded gravely and looked like he was contemplating the idea. "Then that must be what she is aiming to do.." Suddenly he pushed back his chair and hurried out of the room. "Nika, I missed a very important detail. I must speak to Einar again. Hope Laverne hasn't left yet.." Without another word he hurried outside. Nika followed as soon as he had put on a black robe with an enchanted hood.

"You two are supposed to some with me!" Émile shouted through the door before leaving. Althea and Finn looked at each other, surprise and worry was reflected between them before they scrambled to their feet and hurried after Émile and Nika, not quite sure what was going on.

They had to run to keep up with Émile and Nika, who rushed towards _The West Weald Inn_. "Do you know who Einar is?" Althea asked breathlessly when they entered the door.

"That's him there," Finn nodded towards the huge nord sitting alone at a table, drinking mead directly from a pitcher. The big man looked up with a surprised expression when he saw Émile and Nika coming over. Nika glared warningly at Althea and Finn when they came to join them, so they went to sit down by the bar instead.

Einar and Émile talked for over thirty minutes, with Nika inserting a word or two at times. At the end of the conversation the number of glances they threw at Finn and Althea increased noticeably, and after a while Nika called them over.

"Laverne has already left for Imperial City. We'll have to make due on our own," said Émile and smiled towards them.

"Excuse me, but what is it that we are going to do?" Althea asked politely.

"Open a great Oblivion gate and go through it." Finn and Althea just gaped, and Einar didn't look too pleased either. "Once inside we'll have to reach some kind of throne room, and I'll become the new deadric prince."

"_That_ is still negotiable though," Nika interjected with a stern voice.

Émile shrugged, clearly not comfortable with the subject.

"So.. We two are going to go with you three and get ourselves killed? I don't know if you've noticed, but _we_," said Finn and pointed at himself and Althea, "aren't exactly skilled warriors, and I doubt that you are _that _good."

It was Nika who first spoke, and he did so with an expression that clearly stated that he loathed the docker. "Actually, two more are going with us. One of them is the grand champion of the arena, and the other one the highest ranking member of the dark brotherhood. Althea is granddaughter of the late sir Richard Wolfsbane, and a well-trained healer. Einar, as you know, is leader for the fighters guild. As for me and Émile, well, that goes without saying, doesn't it? If you are too frightened to come along then fine, but don't expect any of us to ever look you in the eyes again, because cowards like you aren't worth that kind of recognition."

Finn blinked. He hadn't been expecting to be scolded. "Phf! Fine I'll come along. But I don't know what for," he muttered. The imperial inside him had to fight back the nord, who urged to punch Nika in the face.

"Good," said Émile hastily before Nika had time to make any smart remarks. "We'll meet outside the camp in one hour. Oh, and Einar, you'll have to stay and manage the situation here." He literally had to pull Nika out of the inn.

One and a half hour later the last members of the group had finally arrived at their meeting point. At first Thanatos had refused to come until Kai was well again, which could take days, but in only an hour he had improved substantially and had himself insisted on going. Thanatos had stalled them another thirty minutes before Kai finally told him of and went ahead on his own.

"Finally," Nika muttered when he saw the two approaching. Finn couldn't help but notice that they wore the same type of cloak and hood as Nika.

"Better late than never." Émile's smile seemed somehow false, or worried.

"We're here. Give me the scroll and lets get going," Thanatos mumbled. "Oh, and if someone cares, I'll die after using this so unfortunately I can't come with you." With that he rolled out the scroll and started chanting. Kai quickly snapped the scroll out of his hand, nearly tearing the parchment in the process.

"What the hell are you doing? Why didn't you say so earlier?"

"The kid," he was referring to Émile, "was in such a hurry I didn't have the time." Kai sighed. He knew Thanatos had a thing for drama, but this was over the top.

"Then we have to think of something new," said Finn. Really? He couldn't have told them earlier? _Sound more like he forgot._

"We could do it together, right?" asked Émile after a moment of thinking. "Me, you, Nika, and Althea."

Finn frowned. "Quite eager to get yourself killed?"

"If we don't make it before Kalma, we're going to get killed for certain." Émile took the scroll and held it at arms length, so that the others could see it. Ready?"

_(Long time no see. I finally got the inspiration to finish this chapter. The next is going to come in like two weeks. Have already planned it, so don't worry. Btw, it wasn't poor Thanatos who forgot, it was me.)_


	8. Riddles

**Chapter 8 – Riddles**

The inside of the Oblivion gate was indescribable. Hordes upon hordes of deadra roamed the land that consisted almost only of fire and lava. The only thing Althea had ever seen that reminded her of the plain of Oblivion was the paintings of hell that she had seen in the books at the priory. Oddly enough, none of the deadra seemed interested by the enormous gate that had suddenly appeared in front of them. They walked around it and past it, but did not look at it.

"Since they are so intelligent, they have probably already figured out that someone has entered, so stay silent," Nika whispered. For the first time since they had first met, Althea appreciated Nika's company. Of course she couldn't see him, but hearing his voice was enough to make her feel safe, or at least safer.

"That big tower is where we're headed. Follow me." This time it had been Émile who had spoken. The tower he was talking about was located at the top of a hill. It was so high that the black clouds concealed the uppermost part of it. A spell that made her able to detect life was cast over her, probably by Thanatos, so that she and the rest of the group were able to see each other.

She followed the human-shaped purple dots of bright light as silently as she could. They followed a narrow trail up a steep hill, carefully avoiding sharp rocks, fire throwers, mines, hazardous plants and deep pools of lava.

The person in front of her grabbed her hand to help her climb atop a big boulder that was blocking the trail. She was already out of breath and they hadn't actually climbed that far. Ahead of them lay more boulders, even bigger than the first one. She squeezed the other persons hand even harder. "Do you want me to carry you?" It was Nika, of course.

"No, thank you. I'll be fine on my own." With that she let go of his hand and pressed on, past the others and down from the boulder. Unfortunately she hadn't looked down properly before she jumped, so she landed with a heavy thump right in front of a dremora mage. She didn't even have time to scream before an arrow zipped by her ear and dug itself into the dremora's forehead. It was dead before it hit the ground.

"Let the kid lead the way," said Thanatos. The sound of his bowstring being stretched out again was muffled by the ringing in her ears. Despite the fact that the danger had been taken care of in no time, she was still terrified.

"Althea? Are you okay?" this time it was Finn who took her hand.

"Yes, just a bit spooked." The composure of her own voice surprised her. Finn steadied her as they continued up towards the high tower.

When they had finally reached the top, Althea thought her heart was going to explode. Finn had helped her the whole way, never letting go of her hand, despite being just as exhausted as she was. "Does anyone mind if we stop for a while?" he asked pleadingly.

"Not for long," said Émile silently. "Nika, do you see that?" he asked and Althea could see a purple arm-looking light point towards the entrance to the tower.

"Yes," he mumbled. "Looks like we are in for some trouble."

"What's wrong?" Finn asked.

"Someone has already been here, probably Kalma and her mages. There is a dead deadra down there, and the other ones are really cautious. One wrong step and they'll be all over us."

"Oh, great." Finn didn't sound very happy. "I'm ready, lets get going."

Quietly they sneaked up to the entrance, past several deadras. Althea just barely managed to avoid stepping on the corpse of a xivilai lying on the base of the stairs. She could not help herself from staring. It was horribly ugly, but the likeness to a human was still striking.

"Be prepared," Émile whispered before pushing the door open.

The surrounding deadra stopped dead in their tracks as they heard how the old hinges creaked. Someone grabbed Althea by the arm and brusquely pushed her inside without a word. Someone shouted out in pain as she fell to the floor. When she looked up she saw two people hurrying to close the gates behind them.

The sudden sound of a metallic clash made her turn around just in time to see two dremoras fall down dead, and a third lose its head.

"This room is clear." _Kai_, she thought. His voice was still very unfamiliar to her.

"Thanks. Althea, help Finn," Émile ordered. The invisibility spell disappeared and she could see Finn lying on the floor with the shaft of an arrow sticking up from his back.

With a quick movement she went up next to him and pulled the arrow out. A pained scream was what she had been expecting to hear, but instead he just shouted a word she did not know, and did not care to know, _probably some nord language_. Before he had time to protest she put her hand over the wound and pushed down as hard as she could. Once again he shouted that word. A blue light poured down from her hand and into his body, healing it from the inside.

"As good as new," she said sounding pleased. The process hadn't taken more than a few seconds.

Finn blinked. "Oh? Well, thank you. I didn't know you were so good at this kind of stuff."

"We all have our talents, don't we?" she said with a smile.

"Can we continue now? The lack of organisation among the deadras shows that Kalma hasn't reached the throne room, jet." Nika looked just as impatient as he sounded.

Émile nodded. "There is two doors in here, which one should we take?"

Nika shrugged. "They probably lead to the same place, so it doesn't matter."

"Then right it is," Thanatos said and went ahead together with Kai. It was quite obvious that he thought the others were slow.

"Don't just rush ahead," Nika muttered as he cast the invisibility spell again. "Werther you like it or not, we're a team."

"That is not how I do things."

Before Nika could say anything more, Kai opened the door and stepped inside. "Stop fighting like you were an old married couple, it bugs the hell out of me." None of them wanted to answer, so a tense silence settled down in between them.

On the other side of the door a steep, twisting corridor awaited them. As they ascended to the next floor, Thanatos and Nika went ahead and triggered the different traps that they found. The room at the top of the long corridor was empty, except for the frozen body of a clannfear, a clear evidence of Kalma's presence. They continued through the next door, up another booby-trapped corridor and into the next room. This one was different from the first. It was much bigger, and contained six huge obelisks with different symbols on every side.

"Well if it isn't the rebels. How nice of you to join us." A dozen hooded figures in mages' robes suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and at the same time the invisibility spell Nika had cast was broken. In the middle of the group stood a tall, thin woman in expensive-looking blue robes with golden embroideries. Her eyes were cold, and she had a grim smile plastered across her face.

Althea was pushed back by Émile, who hurried to put himself between her and Kalma. "What are you doing here?"

She chuckled smoothly. "The same thing as yourself. Unfortunately we can't seem to get this door open, no matter how hard we try," she said with an annoyed sigh.

"Then go home." It was Thanatos who had spoken. For some reason he looked paler than usual.

"Oh, you must be Lihau. How come you are still alive?"

Althea could see how Thanatos tensed when Kalma spoke that name. "I had some help opening it."

"I see. So you've all been weakened by the spell? Hmph, and I who actually thought this was going to be a challenge."

"So you're going to fight us?" Émile sounded doubtful. "That doesn't sound like you."

"Well I'm not going to kill you _now_. I'll do it when you have solved the puzzle for me." She pointed at the six obelisks.

"How kind of you. How about this: We kill you now and open the door ourselves," said Finn angrily. His confidence in their group seemed to have grown.

"Well, that is going to be a bit though since I have the only clue on how to open it." Finn was just about to make another smart remark, but Kalma cut him of. "It's up here." With a bony finger she pointed at her temple.

Émile looked doubtful for a moment before he made his choice. "Okay, fine. We'll help you now, and then we'll fight."

"Unless you give up of course."

"And be used as shields for your mages? I know how you work, so don't even try."

"Fine, have it your way," she hissed.

Émile turned around and showed Althea with a nod in Nika's direction that she should keep close to him. After that he went over to the closest obelisk and studied the symbols with his hands. He did the same thing to all the obelisks before sighing. "It seems pretty straightforward. Turn the pillars so that the same symbols face each other. Why haven't you solved it already?"

"It's impossible to turn the obelisks, not even magic can budge them."

"The lines on the floor then?" When she looked down she could confirm that there actually were small lines forming intricate patterns carved into the rough stone floor.

"I have no idea."

"And your clue?"

"The top of the obelisks shine when you use a lightning spell on them, but it stops after a while."

"_That_ I could have figured out myself.. Have you tried lighting them all at the same time?"

Kalma snorted arrogantly. "Like it would be that easy." Émile raised his hand and sent six roaring thunderbolts at the obelisks. Nothing happened. "I told y.." The lines were lighting up, but not only on the floor but on the walls and in the ceiling too. Althea watched in amazement as signs carved into the door started to shine more splendidly than the sun.

As soon as the last symbol had been lighted the atmosphere in the room changed drastically. Émile, Nika, Finn, Thanatos and Kai pulled their weapons and the mages raised their hands, ready to lunge an attack at any moment. Silently they watched each other as the door opened. With a thump the door came to a stop and the madness begun.

Althea was pushed back into the corridor they came from by Nika, and since she knew that she was useless at fighting she stayed there, trying to cast protective and healing spells on the others.

Kai and Thanatos were swirling around the room with their swords like wasps. They had killed no less than five mages in the same time it took Nika and Émile to kill two. Finn on the other hand was just barely holding up. If it hadn't been for the spells that Althea continually kept throwing at him, he would have been long gone.

"Thanatos!" It was Kai who had shouted. He ran over to the other side of the room, almost too quick for her eye to perceive. One of the mages had cornered Thanatos and was aiming at him with a staff. Nika and Émile was fighting their way over to him, but were blocked by the remaining four mages.

The next thing happened so fast that Althea couldn't quite comprehend. Kai threw himself in front of Thanatos, and burst into flames with such ferocity that Althea could feel the heat all the way to where she was standing. His body dissolved into ashes in no time. At the same time Kalma made a run towards the door, but she did not get very far before being tackled down and stabbed several times by Finn, the only one that wasn't preoccupied by any mage. Thanatos killed the mage in front of him with a spell that seemed to inflate the victim until he exploded in a red cloud. His eyes had taken the same blood-red colour. He threw his head back and screamed with a voice that sent chills down her spine. The four remaining mages he tore to shreds with his own hands.

"No, no, no, no.." he repeated while angrily throwing around the dead bodies.

"Thanatos!" said Nika. He knew about the blood-rage and what it could do with a vampire, so he tried as good as he could to position himself between Thanatos and the others.

Althea stepped into the room again. Not quite sure if she was doing the right thing, she walked around Thanatos, as far away from him as she could, and went towards where Kai's ashes were spread on the floor. She noticed the tears running down Thanatos bloodstained face.

With shaking hands she tried to sweep the ashes into a pile, so that she could collect them and bring them with her back through the gate. Everyone deserved a proper funeral, even a vampire.

When she looked up, she found that Thanatos was watching her silently. His eyes had gone back to their normal colour. "Leave it."

Althea blinked. "But don't you want to bury him?"

"His dead already, leave him be."

She stood up again. "Are you sure? If we don't bury him proper.."

"Is said no!" He was showing his fangs.

"Thanatos, I'm sorry for your loss, but we still have to go on," said Émile gently.

Thanatos didn't answer. Instead he just went on to the next corridor. Émile signalled that they should follow him.

_(Getting close to the end now. It's going to be 12 chapters in total. Kind of on a roll now, so you won't have to wait too long for the next chapter. While I'm at it I'll just take the opportunity to thank everybody who's reading and especially those who reviews, it really makes my day when I read what you think about my little story!)_

**Facts about the characters **_(The few remaining ones!)_

**Thanatos**

Race: 50% Breton, 50% Altmer (Vampire)

Birthsign: The Shadow

Class: Assassin (pretty obvious)

Rank: (Former) Listener, Dark Brotherhood

**Laverne**

Race: 50% Bosmer, 50% Imperial

Birthsign: The Shadow

Class: Thief

Rank: The Gray Fox, Thievesguild

**Kalma**

Race: 100% Altmer

Birthsign: The Serpent

Class: The Sorcerer

Rank: Arch-Mage, Magesguild

**Panahasi**

Race: 100% Altmer

Birthsign: The Steed

Class: The Barbarian

Rank: High Chancellor

**Ragnhild**

Race: 100% Nord

Birthsign: The Tower

Class: The Crusader

Rank: None


	9. The Throne Room

**Chapter 9 – The Throne Room**

There it was. Right in front of them. They were at the top of the tower. After exiting the room with the oblisks they had climbed two more steep corridors and gone through some kind of tunnel that looked like it had been chiselled out of a big rock. When finally reaching the end of the tunnel they found a huge, circular room with one big throne at the back wall and two floating stones in the middle of the room. A red light came up from the floor, through the stones and up through the roof.

"This is it," said Émile silently. His face looked solemn, and a bit sad.

Thanatos had already entered the room. He stood staring at the stones. "If I take one of these I'll be transported back to Cyrodiil, right?"

"Yes, you will. But please wait until the others are ready to leave."

Finn blinked. "Aren't you going to come with us?"

"No. I'm going to take the throne here, and since it has already been way too much disturbance in the balance between our worlds, I'll have to stay."

Nika knew how much it hurt Émile to say that, and if he could take Émile's place, he would. Unfortunately he couldn't. The title of deadric prince and the gift of immortality went hand in hand, you could not get one without getting the other, and he was already immortal. "I'm staying too." Said Nika decisively. He hadn't talked to Émile about it before, but surely the young man wouldn't decline his company?

"Nika.." mumbled Émile. "Even though I want you to stay, I can't let you throw away your life like that. I'll be fine on my own."

"I'm staying, no matter what you say."

"No, you're not. Who is going to look after Yatniel? Who is going to take charge over my army. It can not be anyone else than you."

"Einar can rule that army better than I, and Yatniel has Ragnhild. _I will not leave Émile's side_, was what I swore to your father, and I intend on keeping that vow."

"Is there any way to convince you?" said Émile with a sigh. Of course he wanted Nika by his side but.. But could he really be so selfish?

"No."

Thanatos turned around and looked at them. He looked extremely tired, like someone had drained him of all his energy. "Can I go now?"

"In a minute," said Émile and tried to smile encouragingly, it did not work. He started walking slowly towards the throne, with Nika by his side. "With powers like that I would be able to restore my eyesight. And I could probably change this place too, so that it becomes a bit less hostile."

"Really? That is amazing. Is it anything special you want to see?"

"A blue rose. That would be grate." Émile's voice trailed of as he found himself right in front of the throne. "Guess this is it." He took a deep breath and turned around, ready to sit down.

"Wait," mumbled Finn, but Émile did not hear him. Instead he clenched his fists and prepared to sit. "Wait!" This time Finn shouted out loud.

Émile blinked. "Yes?"

"Let me do it. I don't have a family, nor an army to return to. I can stay."

Émile smiled. It was a sad smile that made Nika's heart ache. "I can't let you do that for me."

Finn did not return the smile. His face was set and his expression hard and unyielding. "It is not for your sake that I want to do it. My whole life I have been nothing but a simple docker, going to the pub every night to forget how meaningless my life really is. If I do this, my life will have meant something. It will be important and maybe, just maybe, I'll be remembered even when my friends are gone, when you are gone."

Not knowing what to say, Émile just stared. "Are you sure?" he finally managed to squeeze out. Finn just nodded. "Okay," he said and stepped away from the throne, back to the middle of the room.

"You can go now. This is something I want to do on my own," mumbled Finn.

"Finn?" said Nika.

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry I didn't trust you earlier."

"Don't worry about it."

Nika nodded and turned towards Émile again. "How are we going to do this? One of the stones lead to Imperial City, and it is probably under heavy surveillance."

"You and Thanatos take one, I and Althea will take the other. I'm strong enough to clear they way out of the city, _if_ we would end up there, and she has the ring."

Nika nodded and looked at Thanatos with a raised eyebrow. "Are you ready?"

Thanatos did not answer, but turned towards the sigil stone and reached out his hand towards it. Nika hurried to do the same thing. When they touched the stone the red light wavered unstably until it went out. Althea stared dumbfounded. They were gone, and so was the stone.

"_Could you slow down, Ren? I'm not as quick as you." It was a warm morning. A slight breeze was playing with his long black hair, and he regretted that he hadn't put it up before they left._

"_Hurry up! I want to reach Cheydinhal before sunrise." Ren's words sounded harsh, but he softened it by giving Lihau a bright smile._

"_You're going to give me a heart attack."_

_Ren sighed and stopped in the middle of the road. "Give me your bag, I'll carry it for you."_

"_I can carry it myself, I'm not a kid any more." Lihau walked past Ren without looking at him._

"_Still act like one though.."_

_Lihau quickly turned around to glare at his brother. "I do not!"_

"_Yes, you do. If it wasn't for me and father, you would've gotten your as kicked out of the guild years ago!"_

"_Oh? And who was it that told me to sneak into the arch-mage's room from the beginning?"_

_Ren's serious expression suddenly wavered and gave way for a boisterous laugh. "I can't believe you actually did it! Oh, if I had only been there to see her face!"_

_Lihau pouted angrily and was about to say something witty, but before he even opened his mouth everything became dark. Dark and filled with pain. He could hear his brother scream, but could not do anything about it. His head felt like it was going to explode, his ears were ringing and something, or someone, was gnawing at his neck._

"_Catch him, his running away!" The voice belonged to a man that he would later trust with his life, and it was the last thing he heard before fainting. _

One tear fell from Thanatos cheek. "Ren," he mumbled, while travelling back to his own world. The man beside him seemed to experience something similar, but not quite as unfamiliar.

_It was winter and the snow crystals sparkled in the bright sunlight. Blenda, an old and sturdy mare, was following him towards the stable. She made an appreciating noise when he gently patted her on her mule. They had been into town to buy a new saddle for her, since the old was getting worn. _

_The big stable was located behind the small manor that he, his wife and their two sons were living in. A big paddock surrounded it. The stud farm focused mainly on fast horses, those who could be used for transportation of the rich, but he also kept a considerable number of workhorses, such as Blenda. _

_When he opened the door to the stable Blenda stopped dead in her tracks. She put her ears back and snorted while trying to back away. He knew she wasn't too fond of being locked up in the stable, but it was too cold for her to stay outside._

"_Come on now!" he said and tried to pull her forward. Once again the horse tried to back away, but this time he was prepared for it. "Come here you stubborn mule, I haven't got all day!" Finally the horse followed him inside, but it wasn't happy. _She seems scared_, he thought but did not reflect on why. He was getting cold and he wanted to get inside the manor as soon as possible._

_After leading her into her box and removing the saddle from her back, he walked the usual round to make sure that all the horses were okay. Oddly enough, all creatures, including the cats, seemed just as spooked as Blenda. He stumbled over something and fell headlong onto the floor._

_It took a while for him to realize that the thing that he had stumbled over was actually moving. _A snake, _was his first guess, but then he felt a knee._

_He quickly got up on his feet again and looked down on the man sitting with his back against the wall and his legs stretched out in front of him. In the dim light he couldn't see the man's face properly._

"_Hello?" he asked carefully. It had happened before that a homeless person had taken shelter from the cold in his stable._

"_Please help," the man said with a weak, frail voice. The man had a odd smell, like burned meat. "Please."_

_At heart Nika was a kind and generous man, so he couldn't just shoo the poor man out. "My wife will make you some food if you follow me inside," he offered kindly._

"_Please." The man's voice were now no more than a whisper. He said something more, but Nika could not hear it._

_He bent down so that he could hear the man better. "I'm sorry, I didn't hear that last part." The man did not repeat himself. In fact, he said nothing at all. Instead he lunged at Nika's neck. Nika tried desperately to shake him of, but he had already winded his arms and legs around him with a crushing strength. He fell backwards towards the gate of a box and onto the floor, still trying to pry the man of himself. The horses were screaming in panic and kicking the walls ferociously. Small white stars were starting to appear in his field of vision and he knew he was close to fainting. Suddenly the man released him and pulled himself back into the corner._

"_Sorry," Nika heard him mumble before fainting._

_When he woke up it was dark outside and his whole body trembled in excruciating pain and it continued doing so until the sun had risen and fallen again. Only when the last rays of the sun had disappeared he felt strong enough to move. When he did, something else moved inside of him. It felt like some horrible beast trying to claw its way out of his chest. Before he knew it he had sucked every last drop of blood out of the closest horse. When he was done the beast had settled down, but just a little. _Vampire_, he thought. Immediately his thoughts went to his beloved sons, probably sleeping soundly in their beds by now, and his beautiful wife. He needed to leave, before he could hurt anyone that he loved._

When Nika and Thanatos opened their eyes they saw that they were not alone. At least 50 couple of eyes stared back at them, all with the same spiteful look.

"Well, well. What have we here?" It was Panahasi's booming voice echoing from a place somewhere behind the heavily armoured soldiers. "Kill them!"

Nika and Thanatos barely had the time to pull their swords before the frontmost soldiers were over them.


	10. Rise of the Deadric Prince

**Chapter 10 – Rise of the Deadric Prince**

The atmosphere in the room was tense, to say the least. It had gone five minutes since Thanatos and Nika left, and none of the remaining three people in the room wanted to make a move. Finn was standing by the throne and Émile and Althea were ready to grab the last remaining sigil stone, but no one wanted to be the person who set the ball rolling.

"Should I do this before or after you leave?" Finn finally asked.

"I think it's better if we leave first, in case this world would become unstable. The gate might close before we leave."

Finn nodded. "I guess this is goodbye then.."

Both the men turned towards Althea, as she let out a great sob. When she joined the rebels she had thought that it would be easy. That she would stand by Émile's side, heal him sometimes and nothing more. No great dangers, no dead friends and certainly no friend left behind in another world. She quickly dried her tears, not wanting to look weak.

Émile put his hand on her shoulder and gave her an assuring smile. "It's going to be fine, I swear. This world might look horrible now, but that is only because of Mehrunes Dagon. Finn can change this world however he likes."

"Oh.. Then you can make more inhabitants too, right?" She smiled towards Finn. Maybe he wouldn't be alone for eternity.

"Maybe one day. I'll have to practise a bit first, but it's not like I haven't got time." The look Émile and Finn exchanged baffled her. It seemed.. It seemed like they were hiding something from her, but she figured it was about something else.

"Are you ready?" Émile asked.

Without saying anything she ran forward and wrapped her arms around Finn. "I hope you'll be fine."

Finn snickered. "Don't worry about me. I've lived through worse.. I think."

She stepped away. "Take care," she said before taking the stone at the same time as Émile and disappearing.

Finn was left alone in the throne room. A bit confused about what he was supposed to do next. Just sit down? Would such insignificant action really be enough to take charge? _I won't know until I try_, he thought and sat down. Nothing happened. _Great_. He tried standing up and sitting down again, but still nothing happened. If Émile had been there, he would probably had known what to do, but Émile wasn't there. Finn was alone, and no one could help him.

Finn walked around the throne room, looking for any details he might have missed. Nothing. The walls were completely blank, and so was the floor, the ceiling and the throne itself. Thee only thing he found that stood out from the rest of the throne were small blue gems, intermixed with the dark stone on the right armrest. When Finn stroked his hand over it he felt a cold sensation running through his body. Whatever it was that he had to do, it had to be something with the gems. _Another riddle, maybe?_ he thought while hoping that it would not have anything to do with magic.

After trying everything he could come up with, he gave up. He had tried pushing, pulling, hitting and cutting them, but nothing had any effect. When he was done trying he flopped down on the throne and stared out over the huge room, lazily searching for any clue. I only Émile had been there. _How am I going to last an eternity here, if I can't even do this alone?_

"Give me the title of Deadric Prince!" he called out.

To Finn's great surprise, someone answered. "That is not how our kind speak." Startled he looked up and saw a dremora standing by the entrance, leaning heavily on his sword. "A weakling like you can't rule over us."

Finn smirked. He hadn't expected the ugly bastards to have the ability of speech. "Then what am I supposed to do?"

"There is nothing you can do, you're too weak."

"I'm strong enough to take you down," Finn muttered. He put his hand on the cold gems. "I _demand _the title of Deadric Prince!" This time the gems tingled, like they were praising him. Why weren't the dremora trying to stop him? "I _require _the title of the Deadric Prince?"

The dremora snorted. "This is obviously going to take a while."

"Shut up!" The gems tingled again. Aggression, was that the key? "What are you hanging around for anyway?"

The dremora sighed. "I'm waiting for someone to take over, so that this word can be saved. The deadras and dremoras can not rule this world, it has to be someone from the outside."

"Oh.. Then can you give me a hint?"

"Do you _want_ me to chop your head of? Because that's what it seems like!"

Finn quickly shook his head. "My head is perfectly fine where it is, thank you."

The dremora observed Finn impatiently while he pondered. It had to have something to do with his mood. Or was it determination? "You're to weak," the dremora muttered again.

"I'm not weak. I made it this far didn't I?" Finn sounded more confident than he really was.

"Your allies brought you this far. If you had entered that gate by yourself you wouldn't have lasted a second."

"I thought I told you to shut up?" Finn said with a dangerous voice and ha felt the blue gems tingle under his fingers. "Go away so that I can think."

The dremora frowned. "Don't try to order me around, weakling!" Finn suddenly got up and pulled his sword. _If I can't become a deadric prince, I'm at least going to behead this bastard. _The dremora seemed ready for such a reaction and raised his sword towards Finn. "Killing you brings me no honour," he proclaimed.

"Back at you," said Finn before slashing towards the hideous creature. His whole arm hurt when the dremora countered the attack with his own sword.

"Pitiful creature." The dremora quickly raised his sword again and swung at Finn, much like others would have swung a club. It reached its target and the bones in Finn's lower left arm made a sickening noise. The dremora laughed when Finn screamed and hastily backed away. "Give up, human, and I'll be merciful."

"Like hell I will. The throne is mine, and there is nothing you can do about it!" Finn managed to smile through the pain, because he knew that even if he lost the dremora and the rest of the deadra would lose with him.

"Prove it!" the dremora shouted while rushing forward towards him with his sword ready to strike. This time Finn parried and managed to slash at his enemy's back. The spells that Émile had but on the sword a few hours earlier worked perfectly, and enabled him to cut through the heavy armour that the dremora was wearing. The dremora didn't make the tiniest sound as he fell to the ground.

"I win," Finn muttered and carefully looked down at his arm, afraid of what he might see. He quickly looked up. It wasn't nice, far from it.

"I'm not dead yet."

"Thought I severed your spine."

"No proper dremora at my rank would die from such a minor blow." It was amazing that he still managed to sound snotty despite the pool under him of that seemed to grow bigger by the second.

"Shut up now, or I'll put my sword through your head. _That _ought to silence you."

"Take my sword."

"I prefer my own," said Finn with a critical look towards the big, ungraceful and _blunt_ sword.

"Take it, sit on the throne and talk like you're a deadra. That's the only way. Humans really are thick." The last word was barely audible, since the ugly creature coughed up a handful of blood while saying it.

Finn reached down and took the sword. It was lighter than it looked, but other than that it was just a normal sword. The pain in his arm reminded not to thank the dremora. "Here goes," he mumbled and went over to the throne and sat down. This time the gems were much more active. It seemed almost like having a buzzing fly under ones hand. "I'm taking this throne!" he exclaimed assertively. It worked.

A mighty current of warmth flowed into him, not just through the gems but from the whole chair. It filled his entire body and made him feel like he could do anything, even conquer whole countries without blinking. After a while, when he felt that his body might explode at any second, the current died out and left him feeling surprisingly empty.

"Master," the dremora said weakly. "Use your powers to bring back stability to your land."

Finn didn't need any more instructions. He instinctively knew how to activate the power he had been given, and he let it surge through the land, changing everything according to his own will.

_The old man was dressed in his usual armour with the sanguine emblem on his chest and shield. At his side hung a longsword and a mace that had seen many battles._

"_Father, I do not consider this a good idea. You should leave this to the younger knights."_

"_As long as I can speak, I will continue to spread the message of the nine. You should do the same, my dear child."_

_The woman nodded and dried her eyes as she watched her elderly father set of together with his knights. She knew she wouldn't see him again, he was too old to survive such a dangerous journey. The child clinging to her leg was crying, even though she was too small to understand what was happening._

"_It's okay, Althea. Lets go inside and see if Muriel has any of those sweetrolls left in the kitchen." The child smiled and ran ahead, her sorrows already forgotten._

_Later, several years later, the old man still had not come back, and neither had any of his knights. So the priory was completely unprotected when a gang of Kahjiits from Elsweyr decided to raid a nearby village. The woman was, of course, there as soon as she could to help the poor villagers. She heard someone scream inside the church, so she hurried there. One of the Kahjiits were still there, and before the woman even had time to scream she was dead, bludgeoned by a huge glass mace. _

_After things had settled down, Althea went to look for her mother and found her. Since that day, Althea had never been able to worship the gods properly again. They had let her mother die in a church. A place where their power could've done anything and they didn't even try._

At her side another person was reliving his early clashes with the gods, and they wer in no way more positive than hers.

_Yatniel was staring out through the window again, and Avinoam was violently shaking his shoulders, but to no use. As usual it was impossible to wake the boy when he fell into trance. _

"_Nika!" the man shouted with a hoarse voice. Of course their servant couldn't do anything but let Avinoam take out his frustration on him. That Nika didn't just snap Avinoam's neck was something Émile couldn't understand. Everything would be easier without him. Everything._

"_Master, you still have one son left and he doesn't.." Avinoam hit him right in the face, and Émile could see how Nika prepared himself for another beating. _

"_Father, let him be. He have done nothing." Avinoam glared at Émile like he was something that didn't belong, something strange and unwanted. The big man stepped towards him, but was stopped by a slender hand on his shoulder._

"_No father," mumbled Yatniel._

"_Oh son, what did you see this time?"_

_Yatniel just shrugged. "Things that are completely irrelevant at this time. Father, you should start training Émile as your successor, I won't be able to do it, and you know it."_

_Avinoam shook his head violently. "I will not hear of it! You are my only true son and.."_

_The conversation continued, but Émile left the manor. He couldn't stand it. They were both Avinoam's sons, but Yatniel's mother was Avinoam's wife, while Émile's mother was just a whore._

"_Émile, where are you going?" Nika, of course. The servant always followed him around when he had nothing else to do. He didn't bother to answer, instead he just kept on walking. "Your father is upset, normally he wou.."_

"Normally _he would be saying the exact same thing, or ignoring me."_

"_He might be a bit though, but inside he's.."_

"_A complete bastard. I already know who he is, so don't try to convince me of anything else. I thought vampires were supposed to be proud and noble, but your just a coward who will let anyone hit you." Émile said reproachfully._

"_I owe your father a lot, and just because I'm strong it doesn't give me the right to do as I want." He took a deep breath, mostly to collect himself a bit before continuing. "Have you had any more visions?"_

"_Yes," said Émile truthfully. It was nice to be able to talk about it with someone, even if that someone was a servant. "I saw myself go mad and my father threw me out in the woods to die."_

"_He wouldn't.." This time Nika interrupted himself. "Is there no way that you can stop the sights?"_

"_Why do you think I'm heading towards the chapel? It sure isn't because I want to thank them for this _ability_." _

"_You found it out in a vision?"_

"_Yatniel did, but he didn't want to go through with it. Seems like he appreciates being mad," Émile snorted._

_He pushed the wooden door open and stepped into the chapel. Nika closed the door behind them. Two priests were the only ones there, and Émile quickly told them to bugger of, which they did. When the last priest had left he knelt down by the altar an cupped his hands in prayer. Nika watched in silence, completely clueless about the sacrifice that Émile was going to make._

_The boy prayed for a long time, at least an hour before standing up again. Since he looked wobbly Nika hurried forward and put his arm around Émile's back. Blood were running like tears down from his eyes, and when he met the boys empty gaze he knew what price the gods had demanded._

When Émile's thoughts finally returned to the present, he became aware that Althea was standing next to him, sobbing loudly. The smell of fresh air and the sound of chirping birds gave him the last clue of their whereabouts. They were back in Skingrad.


	11. The Downfall of the Unjust

**Chapter 11 – The Downfall of the Unjust**

"I'm sorry to say it, but it looks like we aren't going to make it back to Skingrad," said Nika.

They were fighting back to back now, they had no other choice. They were great fighters, but just two people couldn't take a smaller army down, it was impossible. Thanatos had always been the kind of fighter who used stealth and long distance attacks, rather than engage in close combat. Not that he cared if he lived or died, he just wanted to make sure that Nika managed to escape.

"It can't be _that_ bad, you obviously have time to make stupid remarks," he answered while gutting one soldier with his dagger and chopping of another soldier's head with his sword.

Nika smiled. "I didn't know that you had a sense of humour."

Thanatos had stopped listening. The smell of blood was overwhelming, and he barely managed to stay in control of himself. Nika, on the other hand, had no trouble what so ever since he had been trained to refrain from drinking blood.

"That huge man at the back rows.. He and his sister, Kalma, was the ones who took over Cyrodiil after Audric had lost his mind," mumbled Thanatos. He tried not to breath, and it helped.

"Panahasi. If we can take him down we might have a chance."

"Yeah, you just go over there and stab him, I'm sure that will work," said Thanatos cynically.

"It's at least worth a try!" Nika fired a spell which blew the closest soldiers into pieces.

While they were busy arguing on what to do, several dark-clad figures showed up on the roofs around them. Without a sound they aimed their bows and spells on the soldiers and waited for the signal. They had been given clear orders not to aim at Panahasi, he was to be dealt with in another way. A short, slender woman shrouded in leather armor and a grey hood raised her hand, with her eyes moving across the field in search of valuables. When she had confirmed that Panahasi's armor and sword was the only things worth keeping, she dropped her arm and watched the rain of arrows and spells that followed. The heavy armor that the soldiers were wearing protected them from most of the arrows, but some reached their target, and the spells were highly effective. The woman raised her hand again and let her thieves fire another round, and another, and another.

"Is that the girl from earlier?" asked Thanatos when he spotted her on a roof.

"Keep your eyes on your enemies!" Nika pushed Thanatos to the right, so that they both just barely managed to escape from a sweeping claymore. "Yes, it's Laverne. She's the grey fox."

"Should have seen that coming, considering the way she looked at that scroll before." Thanatos muttered.

"She has a thing for rare items." Nika frowned. More than once he had noticed things gone missing after one of Laverne's visits. Of course Émile was way to nice to say anything about it, so Nika had to go get it back himself. "Looks like we're going make it anyway."

"This is far from over, there are more coming."

Nika dared a quick glimpse over his shoulder and noticed a cloud of road dust in the distance. "Battle mages? Oh, great."

"You should run now."

"What?"

"I'll distract them so that you, Laverne and her thieves can make a run for it. We'll never make it if they reach us." Almost as to confirm the things Thanatos had just said, Panahasi threw an exploding fire spell up on one of the roofs, efficiently killing everyone standing there.

"Okay, you have a point, but how are you going to distract them?"

"You'll see," mumbled Thanatos with a grim smile. "Just promise you'll run when I do it."

A horrible realisation struck Nika suddenly. "You're not planning to come with me, are you?"

"No."

"But.."

"I've got nothing to live for any more. Try to convince me of something else, and I'll use _you _as a distraction."

"I'm sure Kay wouldn't have wanted you to die."

"Well, _I'm_ sure he wouldn't have wanted us all to die because you didn't run when I told you to!" And with that he was gone. A light so strong that it made the soldiers scream in pain filled the field. Nika had no choice but to pull down his hood even lower and run. He hoped Laverne would take the chance to do the same, since she was smart she probably would.

He ran without turning back. He ran until the light was gone.

In Skingrad Émile was pacing pack and forth in the dining hall. He hadn't been able to sleep since they came back, much because Nika and Thanatos hadn't returned, but also because he didn't know what his next move should be. He knew his army was ready to march towards the Imperial City, but he didn't want to do it without knowing what kind of forces waited for them there, and he couldn't know that if Laverne didn't return. Einar sat at the table, looking grumpy. He was just as impatient as his soldiers, and waiting when he was confident they would win if they just got the order to march made him annoyed. Across the table sat Althea. She had dark circles under her eyes and her hear, which was usually neat and tidy, looked like a mess. She was just as worried as Émile, if not more so.

Ragnhild stood by the stove, watching as her pies got a lovely golden brown colour. "Food, anyone?" she asked quietly. Not even a stern nord woman like her had managed to continue on unaffected by their loss. She especially grieved the loss of Finn, who she thought had been a sound boy who surely would've grown up into a real nord man, had he been given the chance to do so.

"No," mumbled both Althea and Émile at the same time.

"I want some mead, woman," said Einar and frowned. Nord men weren't exactly polite, but that was what Ragnhild liked about them, so she didn't mind at all. She went down to the cellar to fetch some mead.

"Are you trying to wear a hole in the floor, or do you just want to piss me of?" said Einar angrily.

"Oh, hush you big buffoon," muttered Althea and looked longingly towards the door for the umpteenth time. "Why don't you go back to your brutes instead of pestering us?"

"Be nice, you two," mumbled Émile absently. He was deep in thought, and did not want to be disturbed. Einar got up from the table and walked outside, mumbling words that resembled those that Finn had used when he got hit by the arrow.

"Why do you even bother with that man?" asked Althea. The lack of sleep made her very unpleasant.

"He's the best general I've ever met, and a very good man too. He's just a bit.. Unpolished."

"You could say that." She looked towards the door again. "Weren't they supposed to be here by now?" she asked.

"If Kalma's gate was opened near the Imperial City, yes. Are you worried?"

"Of course I am."

"Thought you hated vampires.."

Althea blushed, ashamed that she had ever been able to say such things. "That's in the past. I just want them to come back here safely."

"You love him, don't you?"

She blushed again, but Émile did not seem to notice. "I would be foolish to believe that I could ever be happy with him."

"That wasn't what I asked."

Before Althea could answer the door flew open with a bang. In came Einar, then Laverne and last a bunch of men and women in leather armor. They all squeezed into the dining hall and greeted Émile and Althea.

"We just got here," said Laverne and smiled.

"Mind taking this upstairs?" asked Émile, who had been pushed in towards the wall.

"Not at all."

"Get your hands of that candelabra!" Ragnhild shouted to one of the men, and slapped him in the back of his head. "Get these damn thieves out of here before they rob us of everything we've got!" Laverne sighed disappointedly and told them to get out.

Althea, Laverne, Einar and Émile went upstairs to Yatniel's room. As usual, Yatniel sat looking out through the window.

"Tell me all that you have found out," said Émile quickly.

"Not so fast." Laverne smiled. "I don't give information away for free, you know that."

Émile frowned. "How much do you want this time?"

"100 gold."

"Hmph, that's unusually low. Why?"

"Because I can tell you all you want to know for free."

Émile just barely managed to suppress a cry of joy when he heard who's voice it was. "Nika, you're alive!"

"Of course. What kind of servant would allow himself to die when his master needs him?"

"Not that it wasn't close. That's why it took so long to get here," said Laverne mockingly.

"It really wasn't that bad, just a scra.." Althea had run forward and wrapped her arms tightly around Nika, and she was crying loudly. Nika smiled, not quite able to hide the surprise in his face, and hugged her back. "I'm fine really."

"I'm glad you're back," said Émile warmly. "Is Thanatos also here somewhere?"

Nika's face darkened. "He sacrificed himself so that we could get away." Althea buried her face in Nika's shoulder, like she was trying to shut their words out.

"Almost took us with him," Laverne snorted. "Not the best of situations to try a new spell."

Émile's smile faded. "I had a feeling he would do something like that if he got the opportunity. It's saddening to hear, but at the same time I'm glad to see you safe." He took a deep breath to gather himself before continuing. "Now tell me about their army, and what kind of defences they have."

The others listened carefully when Nika spoke. Althea had stopped crying, but she still would not let go of him. When he was done, Émile looked content.

"Do I even need to say it?" He smiled towards Einar, who grinned back and left the room. "This is it guys. We're taking over." He followed Einar, but stopped in the doorway. "Althea, take good care of Nika. Okay?" She nodded obediently. Nika on the other hand opened his mouth to complain, but was silenced by Émile. "You're injured, so stay put. This will be over soon." With that he left. Laverne soon followed, after making sure Nika paid her for the treatment, and the horse he had borrowed.

"Greedy, isn't she?" said Althea while she tried to straighten her skirt, suddenly aware of how worn down she looked.

"Most people are. You look tired. It's okay if you take a nap, this is just a scratch." He pointed at his ribcage.

"We'll see about that. Show me your injury."

Nika sighed and took of his black robe and the shirt and leather west he wore under. Althea forced him to sit down on the bed, and then continued to carefully peal of his bandages. When she finally saw the injury, she gasped for breath. "You call _this _a scratch? It looks as if a giant stepped on you!"

"I got hit by a mace.. Or well, a couple of maces and a war axe."

"Lay down and let me treat you properly. It's obvious that whoever did this had no real experience in war injuries. I'm surprised you're even conscious."

Nika lay still while Althea used a variety of spells on him, and gave him a really disgusting potion. He looked admiringly at her while she worked. "You're pretty good at this."

She looked up for a second and smiled. "I'm decent."

"You're much more than just decent." Now he smiled too. "Thank you. I really mean it."

"No, thank you. And while we're at it, I might as well ask for your forgiveness."

"For what?" He looked surprised.

"For treating you so badly, just because you're a vampire.

"Don't apologize for that, you just showed a normal, healthy reaction."

"No, I did not. You have always treated me really kindly, and I've decided I should do the same for you."

"Okay. You could start with pulling your hands out of my ribcage, it hurts as hell." He groaned in pain.

"Oh, sorry, I kind of lost focus there for a second." Nika managed laugh, painful as it surely was. "Lay still!" Althea reprimanded him, but he kept squirming and laughing like a kid, until she threatened to stop treating him. After that he lay silent and still, trying to ignore the fact that he could feel her scent, the scent of sun-warm lilac, so well from where he lay.

"Do you think they'll be all right?" he wondered, feeling a bit guilty for not helping.

"They got an army of.. Was it 500 now? Against less than fifty soldiers.."

"And battle mages," Nika hurried to add.

"Whatever. They're sure to win in any case."

"And what happens after that?"

Althea smiled. She had never really thought about it. Would she go back to the priory? Staying in Skingrad seemed far more tempting.


	12. A Blue Rose

**Chapter 12 – The Blue Rose (Ten Years Later)**

"Kou and Kei, come back here right now!" Althea had to stop to catch her breath, she had been chasing the twins around the whole day, and had run out of patience. "If you don't get back here right away, you'll have to go to bed without supper!"

Of course they didn't listen, since they were having such a blast playing tag in the crowd. Kei, a girl with dark brown, curly hair, blue eyes and speckles on her nose wasn't hard to spot in the crowd with her beaming smile and loud voice, shrilling with delight. Kou, on the other hand, was more like his father. He moved soundlessly, and had a skill for blending in anywhere. If it hadn't been for his pure white skin, Althea would've lost track of him long ago. When she lost sight of them for the umpteenth time she almost screamed in frustration. Both kids where completely impossible to handle when their father wasn't around, which he wasn't most of the time.

"Mum!" It was Kei who had shouted. Althea hurried forward and around the corner of _The West Weald Inn_, just to discover that the girl was sitting on one of Einar's shoulders, happy as could be.

"Oh, thank god!" she exclaimed. "I thought I would lose them in this crowd."

Einar just smiled and lifted Kou to his other shoulder. "Good afternoon ma'am. Lively little fellows, aren't they?"

Althea rolled her eyes. "If you only knew. How come you're here so early? The dinner wont be ready until six." They started walking towards Rosethorn Hall as she spoke.

"I wanted to avoid the big crowd, but it seems like I'm too late."

"People were arriving yesterday, so yes. I didn't expect so many to come just to see Émile."

"Well, he is quite popular, isn't he? Re-elected two times, rich, young, handsome and single.. Although that is up for debate." Althea looked at Einar with a quizzical face which he couldn't help but notice. "Haven't heard about his rumoured lover?"

"Lover? I thought he didn't have time for anything but politics. Who is she?"

"Had to pay Laverne a great deal of gold to get that bit of information." Einar frowned. When the former guildmaster talked about 'a good bit of gold', you could assume that he meant 'a _good _bit of gold'.

"So you know her name? Then tell me!" If Althea hadn't already been so exhausted she would've jumped up and down with excitement.

"Not you too.." Einar sighed. "All people want from me these days are gossip. What kind of warrior does that sound like to you?"

"A retired one?" she answered with a smile.

"Hmpf! I'd like you to repeat that when you've celebrated your sixtieth birthday."

"Just tell me her name, old man."

"Gabrielle Surilie, the granddaughter of Davide Surilie."

Althea's jaw dropped in amazement. "I had no idea they even knew each other."

"You know her?"

"Well of course! We're both in the town council."

"Mum, what's for dinner?" said Kei suddenly.

"I have no idea, Ragnhild wanted it to be a secret."

"Oh dear. The secrets that nord women keep are never good."

"I'm sure it'll be delicious." Even though so many years had passed, Althea was still a bit afraid of Ragnhild. The old woman was though, and expected everyone else to be the same. _Although_, she had to admit, the resentment that she had felt towards the nord disappeared as soon as she saw how sweet she was towards Kei and Kou. _A bit like a filled sweetroll_, Althea thought, _crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside_.

"I'd be dissapointed otherwise.. Here we are!" Einar opened the door for her, and then followed her inside. There really was a delicious smell coming from the kitchen.

"And when is that good-for-nothing husband of yours coming back?"

"Don't call him that." Althea tried to look angry, but it was wasted on the big brute. "He's escorting Émile, as always, and they'll be here soon."

Einar was already moving towards the kitchen. "How's he doing nowadays? Haven't seen him in a long time."

"I'm not surprised that you haven't. He gets paid to keep in the shadows, after all."

"Mum, I'm hungry!" Kei moved around so much that Einar had to put her down.

"Don't worry, we'll eat as soon as your dad arrives." Althea turned back to Einar. "I think he's happy. At least he seems happy."

He smiled and sat down on a kitchen chair. Ragnhild was nowhere to be seen, but there was a big pot on the fire, so she would surely come back soon. "How could he not be happy? He has everything a man could ask for.. Well, except for.." His voice trailed of. _Mortality_, was probably what he wanted to say, but not in front of the kids. They didn't know yet, and Althea foolishly hoped that the day would never come when she would have to tell them what he was.. What they were. Of course, as they grew up, they would wonder why their dad didn't age, but that was a day she didn't care to think about. The thought of her getting old, and him being forever as he was now, scared her more than anything.

"Oh, look what the cat dragged in! What are you doing here? Did the guild fire you?" Ragnhild laughed. "Was the work to hard for such an old man?"

Althea expected Einar to jell at Ragnhild, but he just smiled. "And I heard you had to get an assistant? May be they'll fire you to.." They glared at each other for a while, until they finally broke out in a laugh. _Nords are an odd bunch_, Althea thought before joining their laughter.

A loud bang announced the next guest. "Hello everybody! I come bearing gifts and booze."

"Something you _picked up _on the way here, I assume?" Said Einar with a frown as Laverne waltzed into the kitchen.

"Not at all! I bought it with the money you gave me the other day, when you lost that bet." There was something threatening in Laverne's voice. "Do you want me to tell them about it?"

Once again the door was opened, but this time the sound was much more subtle. "Oh, you sure have changed it.."

"Well, it became a bit to cramped with the kids and the new maid, so we bought the adjoining house and knocked out the walls."

"Really? I was referring to the new floor, but in that chase you have _really_ changed it."

"Yes, well.. Oh, let me take your coat!"

With an elegant movement, Kou jumped down from Einar's lap and ran, together with his sister, towards the sound of their father's voice. With a crash and a bang Nika fell through the door to the room, with his two kids clinging to his legs. His smile grew even wider when he saw Althea's amused face.

"Now, now kids, let the poor man up from the floor," said Émile while laughing.

Nika got up, hugged the twins, and kissed Althea before sitting down beside her at the table. Einar greeted them both by pounding them on the backs, and Ragnhild smiled towards Émile, as she always did when he returned. Laverne was too busy inspecting a silver beaker to make any greetings.

In the midst of all the "hello" and "what've you been up to" Ragnhild took a ladle and banged it against the pot. "The food is ready. Hurry up and eat before it gets cold."

They all scrambled to their feet and scooped up stew on their plates.

…

Four hours, two barrels of beer and five bottles of wine later Einar was loudly proclaiming his intentions to marry Ragnhild, Althea and the twins had gone to bed and Émile, Nika and Laverne were whispering and laughing about a plot to "borrow" the new arch-mage's staff.

Eventually, even they had to admit themselves beaten, and went to bed. Émile wanted to sleep in his old bedroom, and when he entered the room he got a funny feeling.

"Yatniel?" he asked, not really expecting an answer.

He walked over to his brother and put his hand on his shoulder. What he saw made him stop dead in his tracks. In front of Yatniel lay a rose. A blue rose.

"The Deadric prince pays his regards after ten blissful years," mumbled Yatniel with a distant look in his eyes.

_(Finally done with this.. Sorry for the abrupt ending, but I didn't have the energy to finish it properly. Anyway, thank you sooo much for reading this too the end!)_


End file.
